















rte ~P Z 7 

Bnnlr .Q (jtS/ 

CopightlJ?- 

CI)FURIGHT DEPOSrr. 




I 







I 


I 




( 








✓ 



% 


t 




















RICK AND RtIDDY SERIES 

By HOWARD R. GARIS 


RICK AND RUDDY 
A Boy and His Dog 

RICK AND RUDDY IN CAMP 

Adventures of a Boy and His Dog 

RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 
Cruise of a Boy and His Dog 

RICK AND RUDDY OUT WEST 
Trail of a Boy and His Dog 



r ’ 





% 




$ 




I 


4 


% 




» 


» 

• • 














f ? 


p 


* 



’I* 



¥ 

1 


1 




“The monkey extended a tiny, hairy paw.” 

— Page J 6 




RICK AND RUDDY 
AFLOAT 

THE CRUISE OF A BOY 
AND HIS DOG 


BY 

HOWARD R. GARIS 

Author of “Rick and Ruddy/* “kick and Ruddy 
in Camp/* 

ILLUSTRATED BY 

W. B. KING 


1922 

MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY 
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 



Copyright, 1922, by 
MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY 
Publishers 

Rick aud Ruddy Afloat 



PBINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA 


MAY 15 1922 

0)CI.A661682 

TaO ^ 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Old Mian in the Woods 1 

II. Uncle Tod^s Big Idea 11 

III. Off on a Cruise 21 

IV. Glorious Days 33 

V. Ruddy and Goldilocks 43 

VI. ^^okum” Driscoll 53 

VII. A Night Blaze 65 

VIII. The Four-Legged Hen 76 

IX. Rick Is Worried 83 

X. Armored Cruisers 95 

XI. The Brass Bound Box 104 

XII. Filled with Surprise 116 

XIII. Queer Actions 127 

XIV. Disappointment 137 

XV. Long River Camp 150 

XVI. Slither Asks Questions 159 

XVII. The Indian Drum 171 

XVIII. Slither Is Afraid 181 

XIX. Off for Help 188 

XX. A Wild Night . . ...... 200 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXI. Anxious Hours 208 

XXII. In Rough Water 217 

XXIH. Wrecked 227 

XXIV. The Owu-Headed Rooster 234 

XXV. Uncle Tod^s Victory 243 


RICK AND RUDDY 
AFLOAT 

CHAPTER I 

OLD MAN IN THE WOODS 

‘^T^TELL, what is it now, Ruddy? A 
VV rabbit? You know rabbits are out 
of season as well as I do ! Come along 
Rick paused under a big oak tree and glanced 
back at his dog. The red setter stood with one 
forefoot lifted, his nose pointed toward a clump 
of bushes. He was like a statue of bronze. 

“Come on. Ruddy!’’ cried the boy again. 
“No use chasing squirrels — ^you ought to know 
that by this time 1 ’ ’ 

The dog gave a sudden, sharp and short bark. 
There was a movement of the underbrush and a 
small black and white animal, with a short, 
stumpy tail came slowly out. Again the dog 
barked. 

“Ruddy, you dear old chump! Don’t you 


2 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


know a porcupine when you see one?’^ yelled 
Rick, as he darted back toward his dog, to pre- 
vent the setter from attacking the spiny 
creature. ‘‘Do you want your mouth full of 
needles that’ll go all the way through before 
you can pull ’em out? Let that hedgehog 
alone!” 

When Rick talked this way Ruddy realized 
that it was best to obey, and he drew back, 
though with muttered growls deep in his 
throat. The porcupine was an animal distinctly 
different from cats or from the great white 
swans on Silver Lake — yet Ruddy did not see 
why this lowly creature was not fair game for 
him. He had never yet tackled a porcupine. 

“And you don’t want to,” said Rick, as he 
realized the thoughts that must have been in his 
dog’s mind. “You want to let those fellows 
alone, Rud ! It isn’t any fun to be stuck full of 
their quills. 'Course they can’t shoot ’em, as 
Chot Benson claims, but those quills come out 
mighty easy, and one bite would fill your mouth 
so full you wouldn’t have any appetite for 
dinner in over a week. Come on ! ” 

With a final growl at the bristly porcupine, 
which was slowly ambling along as though he 


OLD MAN IN THE WOODS 


3 


knew he was safe from attack, the dog turned 
deeper into the woods with his young master. 

Boy and dog were otf for their usual 
Saturday hike in the forest. What adventures 
lay before them they knew not. All they cared 
about was the sun, which was shining down 
through the foliage of the trees; for the air 
which brought to them the sweet smell of the 
woods, for the leaves of last year which rustled 
under foot, and for the birds which sang. Ad- 
ventures would tahe care of themselves. 

But, had he only known it. Adventure, with a 
capital letter, lay just ahead of Eick, the pres- 
ence all unsuspected as is so often the case. 

As for Buddy he was just glad to be alive, 
and with Eick. To the dog, with his keener 
sense of smell, the woods were filled with de- 
light, for every breeze brought to him a whifi 
of something to be investigated, and this kept 
the setter racing here and there, poking his 
npse into strange nooks, under rotting logs and 
i^to decayed stumps. One of these periods of 
smell-investigation suddenly sent Buddy back 
sneezing and whiffing, for he had sniffed up his 
nose a cloud of dry, rotten, punky dust. 

‘‘What’s the matter T’ cried Eick, as he ran 


4 


BICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


to where his canine companion had preceded 
him, down in a little glade. ‘‘Did you find 
another porcupine, and try to nip himT’ For 
Buddy was pawing at his nose and rolling over, 
trying to get rid of the irritating dry dust of 
the decayed wood. And then Eick caught some 
of the dust himself, and “ker-chooed’’ vigor- 
ously, in company with his dog. 

“You will poke your nose into strange 
places ! ’ ^ laughed the boy, when he had finished 
sneezing. “I’m glad you didn ’t stir up a skunk, 
though. It would be just like you!” For 
Buddy was a most irresponsible dog when it 
came to these woodland excursions. He was so 
glad to run wild and free with Bick that he 
rushed into places where perhaps a less im- 
pulsive dog would have held back. And it was 
on one never-to-be-forgotten-occasiou of this 
kind that he had “met up” with a skunk; an 
event that was most disastrous for Bick and 
Buddy. 

However, on this occasion, no great harm had 
resulted from Buddy’s impulsive poking into 
the rotten stump, and the dog and boy were 
soon on their way again. They had no special 
objective. .They were just roaming through 


OLD MAN IN THE WOODS 


5 


the woods, ready for whatever offered itself. 
Rick had a hazy idea that he might go fishing 
after a while — ^if he could get Chot Ben- 
son to come along. But the day was young yet 
— and the lure of the forest beckoned. 

Rick and Ruddy were now within a few paces 
of the Great Adventure that awaited them, but 
all unconscious — as a movie title might put it — 

^ ‘ of what fate had in store for them. ’ ' 

As a matter of fact even when he saw ‘‘Fate’’ 
so to speak, right in front of him, Rick did not 
recognize the gentleman. For on this occasion 
Fate happened to be a gentleman — or at least a 
man — a rather unkempt and old man sitting on 
a log, muttering to himself. 

As might have been expected. Ruddy first 
saw the old man of the woods. The dog, with a 
little warning growl, came to a stop, with one 
paw raised, as he had stood when he smelled the 
porcupine. Riok, who was looking for a birch 
tree, that he might nibble some of the spicy 
bark, doubly strong at this season when the sap 
was running, turned to see what had disturbed 
his dog. And so, Rick, too, saw the old man. 

But so quietly had Rick and Ruddy made 
their way through the woods that the old man 


6 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


on the log either did not hear them, or he pur- 
posely paid no attention, not even turning 
around, for he had his back toward them. 

Eick was a Boy Scout and also a member of 
the Woodcraft League, and it was one of his de- 
lights, at times, to pretend to be an Indian, and 
to endeavor to go through the forest as silently 
as the Colonial Redmen were wont to do when 
on the warpath. 

It was difficult, however to get Ruddy (who 
was an ex-Officio member of both the Scouts and 
the League) to appreciate the value of a silent 
journey, and at times, when Rick was proceed- 
ing along almost as quietly as a woodland 
shadow, the dog would crash through the under- 
brush, or give a joyous bark, thereby spoiling 
aU his master ^s plans. 

This time, though, both boy and dog had ad- 
vanced with comparative silence, and so they 
came upon the old man without having him turn 
to look at them, proof, Rick thought, that the 
presence of himself and his dog was unknown. 

‘^If I had been an Indian,’’ Rick said after- 
ward to Chot, “I could have sneaked up behind 
him and have taken his gun ’fore he would know 
I was there.” 


OLD MAN IN THE WOODS 


7 


And it would seem that this might have been 
true in the light of what happened. For, seem- 
ingly unaware of the nearness of the boy and 
dog, the old man on the log began talking — to 
himself it appeared, as Rick saw no one else. 

“ITl do it!^^ exclaimed the old man. “It’s 
the only way to get at the truth — to get a look 
at those papers! I’ll play him to the limit! 
Crazy is as crazy does and I’ll go the limit! 
I guess this will be the end of Nick Slither! 
Crazy is as crazy does, and I’ll do it ! Ha ! Ha !” 

The jolly laugh — for it was jolly — coming so 
closely after the impetuous words the man had 
uttered — and his manner was as impetuous as 
his words — gave Rick a start. As for Ruddy, 
he just stood there — ^^again like a bronze statue 
in the sunlight — waiting. 

Some movement on the part of the dog — a 
slight rustling in the dried leaves perhaps — or 
it may have been that the old man felt the 
presence of the two, becoming conscious of four 
bright eyes gazing intently at him — caused the 
sitter on the log to turn. At the same time 
Ruddy barked. 

“Quiet!” ordered Rick, and Ruddy crouched 
■at his master’s feet. 


8 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Hello!” greeted the old man, and his voice 
was cheery and vigorous. And, now that he 
had turned, Rick could see that, though his hair 
was quite gray, the face framed by it was that 
of a man only about fifty years of age. And 
there was almost youthful vigor in the manner 
in which the stranger sprang over the log and 
advanced toward Rick and Ruddy. 

“Hello!” he said again. 

“Oh — ^hello!” responded Rick. 

At first he had taken the man for a tramp, but 
a second look showed that though the clothing 
was not of the best, or newest, it was far from 
being the sort worn by wayfarers of the high- 
way. Then, too, this man carried a suit case, 
which, though it showed signs of much travel, 
had, in its day, been of good quality. 

“Live around here?” asked the man again. 

“Right over there — about a mile,” and Rick 
pointed toward his home. 

“Then maybe you can set me right. I’m a 
bit off my course, and though I can navigate my 
own woods pretty well, I’m in strange waters 
here. I just heaved-to so I could get my bear- 
ings. There isn’t any blazed trail here, as far 
as I can make out.” 


OLD MAN IN THE WOODS 


9 


The man paused, surveyed Eick with a smile; 
and the boy, no less friendly, regarded the 
stranger with a puzzled look. 

The odd combination of sea lingo and wood- 
craft talk had Eick ‘‘guessing,’^ as he told Chot 
Benson afterward. There was something 
rather puzzling, too, in the old man’s appear- 
ance. Though rather elderly he was hale and 
hearty, and when he walked he had a gait some- 
thing between the roll of a sailor and the easy 
progress of a woodland scout. 

‘‘You haven’t such a thing about you as a 
chart of these woods; have you, my boyT’ 
asked the man. 

“No,” answered Eick, “but I can put you on 
the main road, or there’s a path going through 
the woods, if you want that.” 

“What I want,” said the stranger, “is to lo- 
cate the home port of Mrs. Dalton. She — ” 

“My mother?” exclaimed and questioned 
Eick in the same breath. 

“Your name Dalton?” demanded the 
stranger, sharply, as he set down the suit case. 

“Yes, sir. Eick Dalton,” 

“Well, then I guess I’ve struck it right,” 
said the old man of the woods with another ge- 


10 


rJCK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


nial smile. ‘‘I’m looking for a Mrs. Eichard 
Dalton. If you wouldn’t mind putting me on 
the right course — or even acting as convoy, I’d 
be obliged to you. Just put me within hail of 
your mother and tell her I’m her Uncle Tod.” 

“Uncle Tod?” repeated Eick, vaguely re- 
membering having heard his mother speak of 
such a relative. 

“Uncle Toddingham Belmont, to indulge in 
the luxury of my full name,” chuckled the old 
man. “Eick, I’m glad to see you? This your 
dog?” 

“Yes, this is Euddy, and — ” 

But at that moment Euddy, with a savage 
growl, made a dash for Uncle Tod’s suit case 
which, to the surprise of Eick, suddenly began 
swaying backward and forward in a most mys- 
terious manner. 


CHAPTER II 


UNCLE tod's big IDEA. 

R ick, no less than Ruddy, was surprised at 
the action of Uncle Tod's suit case. For 
the yellow bag, standing upright on one narrow 
end, near the log where the old man had been 
sitting, kept on swaying and waving to and 
fro like some oriental dancer, or a snake in 
response to the whining pipe of an Indian 
Fakir. 

The dog rushed up as close as he could get 
to the case and there stood barking, looking 
back every now and then, to see why Rick did 
not come to investigate. And Rick would have 
done so except for the action, of Uncle Tod. 
The old man laughed heartily and was half 
bent over in his spasm of mirth. 

“Ruddy I Come here!" ordered Rick. 

“Oh, let him alone!" chuckled Uncle Tod. 
“He won't hurt anything. Zippo can't get out 
and Ruddy can't get in at him." 

11 


12 


EIQK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


‘ ‘ Zippo echoed Rick. ‘^Who — ^who is he— 
orit?^^ 

He added the last as there did not seem to 
be any possibility of a live person being inside 
the rather small suit case. 

‘‘Zippo is a pet monkey,’’ said Uncle Tod. 
“I put him in my suit case to bring to your 
mother as a present. And I suppose Zippo is 
tired of being shut up. That’s why he’s jump- 
ing about.” 

Certainly something was jumping about in 
the leather bag, and it was evident that this 
movement from within caused the queer sway- 
ing motion that had so startled, and then an- 
gered, Ruddy. For the setter was barking an- 
grily, as he had once barked when a savage dog 
tried to attack Mazie, Rick’s sister. 

“Come here, Ruddy!” ordered the boy 
again. And now, the swaying of the suit case 
having stopped, the dog ceased his barks, 
though he growled deep down in his throat, 
and looked questioningly at his master. 

“It’s all right, old fellow,” said the boy, 
soothingly. 

‘^I hope they’ll be friends,” went on Uncle 
Tod, as he walked back toward his case, and. 


UNCLE TOD’S BIG IDEA 


13 


as he approached it, the bag again began to 
sway in that weird fashion, once more causing 
Ruddy to leap up with a series of barks. 

‘‘Quiet! Down!^' ordered Rick. “Ruddy 
will do just as I teU him,^^ he said to Uncle Tod, 
‘ ‘ and he ^11 even make f riendfs with cats if I want 
him to.’’ 

“Good dog who’ll do Ahat. Regular old sea 
dog, I’d say,” declared the elderly man. 

“He did come from the sea!” spoke Rick 
quickly. “I got him out of the water in a big 
storm.” 

“You did?” cried Uncle Tod. “Tell me 
about him. Here, Ruddy! Let’s you and I 
be friends, and then I’ll make you acquainted 
with Zippo! Yes, old chap. I’ll soon, let you 
out,” he added, speaking to, or at, the suit 
case, and it ceased its waving motion. “Tell 
me about Ruddy — the old sea dog, Rick!” I’m 
a sort of old sea dog myself.” 

“I thought you were a sailor,” said Rick. 
Thereupon he related the story of how Ruddy 
had come to him out of the storm — a tale that 
is fully set forth in the first volume of this se- 
ries — ^in the book “Rick and Ruddy.” 

“And so Ruddy and I haye been chums ever 


14 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


sin.ce/^ said the boy. always with me. 

We went to camp last year. 

‘‘Camp?! That’s fine! I have a sort of a 
camp, myself.” 

“You have? Where?” asked Rick eagerly. 

‘ ' Oh, quite a ways from here, 'on the banks of 
a big river. IVe had many a tussle with that 
river, too, and many adventures on it.” 

“Ruddy andi I had adventures iu camp,” 
said Rick. And to those of you who might 
be interested in those same adventures I rec- 
ommend the reading of the volume just pre- 
ceding this present one — entitled “Rick and 
Ruddy in Camp.” 

“Well, Ruddy surely is quite a dog!” com- 
plimented Uncle Tod. “And now, not to keep 
hiim too excited. I’ll introduce him to Zippo. 
But I’ll rely on you to hold him in check, Rick. 
He may go a bit wild over my monkey.” 

The suit case was opened and out of it peered 
a wizened little face, seemingly of an old, old 
and very tiny man. There was a querulous, 
chattering voice, and then the little bundle of 
fur made a leap and perched on Uncle Tod’s 
shoulder, while Ruddy let out a series of ex- 
cited barks. 


UNCLE TOD’S BIG IDEA 


15 


Quiet, Euddy! Down!’’ commanded Eick, 
and the dog grew silent. 

‘‘This is Zippo,” said Uncle Tod, stroking 
the monkey perched on his shoulder, whereat 
the jungle creature seemed to murmur happily. 
‘ ‘ Now how are you going to make Euddy know 
him, so they won’t fight.” 

“I’ll show you,” answered Eiek. “WiU you 
please put Zippo down on the log near you.” 
Uncle Tod sat down on the same fallen tree 
where Eick had first seen him, and had heard 
him muttering to himself in words the meaning 
of which the boy was even then guessing at. 

“Quiet, Zippo,” commanded Uncle Tod, and 
the monkey, which had been trying to again 
climb up on his master’s shoulder, nestled close 
against the old man as he sat on the log. 

“Euddy, this is a friend of mine! He’s go- 
ing to be a friend of yours, too. Don’t bite 
him! Be good to him!” said Eick in a slow, 
steady voice, pointing toward Zippo, and at the 
same time stroking Euddy ’s bronze head. 
“Now shake paws!” 

Euddy held out one paw obediently toward 
the monkey. 

“Say, you '^Mve got him trained!” exclaimed 


16 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


the admiring old sailor. ‘ ‘ But so have I Zippo ! 
Look! Zippo he ordered. ‘‘Shake 

Immediately, as Ruddy had done, the monkey 
extended a tiny, hairy paw, and, though trem- 
bling with fear, he grasped Ruddy’s larger 
foot. 

“There!” laughed Rick, as Ruddy, with a 
sort of halLashamed air, dropped his paw. 
“Now they’re friends for life!” 

“Good!” exclaimed Uncle Tod. “Do you 
think your mother would like Zippo ? ” he asked. 
“I brought him along to give her as a pet. 
He’U be company for her when you are gone.” 

‘ ‘ When I ’m gone ? ’ ’ echoed Rick. ‘ ‘ Why I ’m 
not going anywhere. I don’t believe I’m even 
going camping this year, though I want to — a 
lot!” 

“Oh, yes you are going!” laughed Uncle 
Tod. “You’re going with me, if I can. bring 
it about. I haven’t told you my big idea yet ; 
have I?” 

“ No, ” answered Rick slowly, ‘ ‘ you haven ’t. ’ ’ 
And, for an instant he began to feel just a little 
bit afraid of Uncle Tod. After all, was this 
strange man, who carried a pet monkey about 


UNCLE TOD’S BIG IDEA 


17 


in a suit case, really what he claimed to be? 
Kick wondered. 

‘‘No, I haven’t told you my big idea yet,” 
chuckled Uncle Tod. “But I will when we get 
to your house. Do you think your mother 
would like Zippo?” he asked. 

“I — I don’t know,” answered Rick doubt- 
fully. “But I’m sure Mazie would.” 

“Who’s Mazie?” 

“My sister.” 

“Oh, yes, I had almost forgotten about her. 
You see it’s some time since I’ve seen your 
mother, and I don’t suppose I would now, only 
for what’s happened.” 

‘ ‘ What has happened ? ’ ’ asked Rick. He was 
beginning to have a hazy notion that he was on 
the verge of a Great Adventure ; a notion that 
was soon to be greatly strengthened. 

“Lots of things have happened,” said Uncle 
Tod. “They’ve not finished happening yet, 
either. But I’d better explain to your mother 
first — ^I’d better tell her about my big idea. 
It came to me after I’d seen you.” 

Rick wondered what he had to do with Uncle 
Tod’s big idea, but just at present the boy 


18 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


was more concerned over how Euddy would be- 
have toward Zippo. Eick had given his word 
that the dog would make friends with the mon- 
key, and he wanted to be sure of this. 

However there seemed to be nothing to worry 
about, for once Zippo found he was no longer 
barked at, and that Euddy ’s sniffing and snuff- 
ing was only in the most friendly spirit, the 
monkey began to make similar advances. 

‘‘I guess they ^11 be all right, ventured Eick. 
“Looks so,’^ agreed Uncle Tod. “IVe had 
Zippo for quite a few years — got him when I 
was down in South America. But now I have 
a new lot of plans under way„ and I canT look 
after Zippo so well. So, when I found I had 
to come down this way, I just brought him 
along. Do you think Mazie would like him?^’ 
“I know she would, but maybe mother — 
Eick paused. It did not seem very friendly 
to suggest that perhaps his mother would be 
afraid of the little monkey. Mrs. Dalton, 
though she liked dogs and cats, stopped there 
when it came to taking an interest in natural 
history. 

“When she sees how cute and cunning Zippo 
is, and how gentle and kind and clean — he ^s the 


UNCLE TOD’S BIG IDEA 


19 


cleanest monkey I ever saw ! ’ ^ the old sailor said 
earnestly — ^‘when she kn^ows what a pet he’ll 
make when I’m gone — and you’re gone — why 
she’ll surely want him.” 

^‘Say, what makes you keep saying I’m go- 
ing somewhere!” asked Eick, earnestly, and 
with a strange look at Uncle Tod. 

^ ^Because you are going with me!” chuckled 
the old sailor. ‘‘I need a boy like you to cruise 
along — ^you and your dog. You’d like to come 
on a cruise; wouldn’t you!” 

^‘You said it!” exclaimed Eick, eam.estly if 
a bit slangily. ‘‘Where to!” 

“Oh, you’U hear all that when I tell about 
my big idea!” answered Uncle Tod. “The 
main thing now is for me to get this monkey 
to your mother — or to Mazie, whoever wants 
him — and then — 

“Oh, it will be Mazie who’ll want him!” in- 
terrupted Eick. “She always wanted a pet 
ever since I had Euddy^” and he looked toward 
his dog, who was lying quietly beside the log, on 
which Zippo was perched. Dog and monkey 
had now established a friendship. 

“ Well, Mazie shall have Zippo then, if your 
mother doesn’t want him,” promised Uncle 


20 


BICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Tod. s’pose Buddy will feel more free on 
the cruise, if Zippo isn’t along.” 

‘^Oh, if Buddy and I are going on a cruise !” 
cried Bick, in joyous accents — ‘‘Oh boy! 
Crackie! What luck!” and he turned a hand- 
spring on the leaf-covered ground, an act which 
sent Zippo chattering in fear to the shelter of 
his master’s shoulder. 


CHAPTER III 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 

M AZIE DALTON came flying back from 
the front gate, where she had been sta- 
tioned for some time, looking down the street to 
catch a glimpse of Rick and Ruddy. Rick had 
promised to come home to dinner, but this was 
always an uncertain promise when made on Sat- 
urday morning. Now that the hour for the meal 
was at hand, 'Mazie was anxious her brother 
should come. She had baked a pie, all by 
herself,’^ and she wanted his opinion. Not that 
it would not be favorable, for to Rick all pie 
was pie, and welcome grist to his hungry stom- 
ach. But Mazie wanted to watch him eat her 
own special pastry. 

‘^Oh, Mother!’’ cried Mazie, fairly leaping 
into the kitchen, ‘‘Rick is coming, and there’s 
a strange man with him and he ’s got a monkey 
perched on. his shoulder!” 

“Who has!” asked Mrs. Dalton, looking up 
from the oven. 


21 


22 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘^The strange man has! And Oh, mother — 
there a big dab of flour on the end of your 
nose!'^ 

‘‘Well, it^s a wonder I^m not all flour with 
the baking that’s been going on this morning!” 
laughed Mrs. Dalton. “But what’s this about 
Rick and a monkey?” 

“Rick’s coming along with a strange man 
and there’s a monkey — on the strange man’s 
shoulder, and Ruddy, he’s barking and — ” 

But at that moment shadows darkened the 
doorway, and Mrs. Dalton glancing up saw her 
son and the old man looking at her. So, also, 
gazed Zippo, his little wizened face close be- 
side that of the sailor. 

“Hello, Schotzie!^* exclaimed Rick’s com- 
panion of the woods, 

“Oh — Oh — ^why, it’s Uncle Tod!^* cried Mrs. 
Dalton, and the next moment she was warmly 
greeting the stranger. Rick’s doubts as to 
the identity of his companion vanished in the 
fervor of his mother’s welcome. 

“Well, Schotzie, you look about the same!” 
remarked Uncle Tod (as he sat down in a chair, 
and stroked the monkey). “I suppose you’re 
surprised to see me.” 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 


23 


Surprised! I should say so. We haven 
heard a word from you in over a year and — 

‘‘I know. IVe been out west. Now I^m 
back east again and I figure on settling down. 
IVe bought a little place on Long River. I’d 
like to have you see it, Schotzie!” 

^^What makes him call you Schotzief^^ asked 
Rick of his mother. 

It’s a pet name I gave her when she was a 
little girl,” explained Uncle Tod. ‘‘We had 
a Polish servant girl, and she called your 
mother what sounded to me like the word 
‘Schotzie.’ Come to find out later that wasn’t 
exactly it, but it means ‘sister’ in Polish. So 
I got to calling your mother that.” 

“I’d almost forgotten it myself,” laughed 
Mrs. Dalton. “And I had almost forgotten 
you.” 

“I’m glad you didn’t — altogether!” said 
Uncle Tod. “And so that you wiU not again 
forget me I’m going to leave you Zippo ! Here, 
Zippo, shake paws with Schotzie!” 

He took the little monkey up in his arms and 
held it out toward his niece. Mrs. Dalton 
shrank back, even though the wizened little 
jungle creature held out a hairy paw in the 


24 


MCK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


friendliest way imaginable. But Mazie, eager 
to see the animal, pressed forward, so it was 
with her that Zippo shook hands, or, rather 
paws. 

‘‘Oh, isn’t he a darling I” murmured Mazie. 
“Oh, I love him!” 

“I told you she’d like him!” exclaimed Rick. 
“He’s yours, Mazie!” 

“Mine?” 

“If iSchotzie doesn’t want him — mean, if 
your mother doesn’t,” said Unde Tod. “I 
can’t take him with me. Rick, Ruddy and I 
are going away on a cruise.” 

“Rick!” cried his mother. “What is this?” 

“I don’t know much more about it than you 
do,” an.swered the boy. “I saw Uncle Tod 
in the woods — he was sort of talking to him- 
self, and I — 

“You thought me a bit off — crazy; didn’t 
you?” interrupted the old sailor. 

“Well,” said Rick slowly, “I — er — ” 

‘ ‘ Oh, I don ’t mind being called that ! ’ ’ laughed 
Uncle Tod. “I’m used to it by this time. But, 
Schotzie, not to keep up the mystery any longer, 
I’ll explain. I had some business down here on 
the coast, and now that I’ve finished it I came 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 


25 


to find you. I’d forgotten exactly where you 
lived, for it’s a long while since we exchanged 
letters. But I was cruising around in the off- 
ing, when I met up with Kick here. There was 
no blazed trail to your cabin, but he showed 
me the way — he and Ruddy.” 

^‘Ypu ought to see Ruddy go wild when the 
suit case wobbled like a snake dancing!” ex- 
claimed Rick. 

‘‘What suit case?” asked Mazie, who was 
now petting the monkey. 

“Oh, I had Zippo in the suit case — carry 
him about with me in that way,” explained 
Uncle Tod. “The case was setting on end, and 
when Zippo moved about inside, the old bag be- 
gan to wobble. I suppose it did look rather 
mysterious to the dog. But they soon made 
up — ^he and Zippo.” 

“WRat’s this about you and Rick going on 
a cruise?” asked Mrs. Dalton. “Tell me about 
it.” 

“It’s a part of my big idea!” chuckled Uncle 
Tod. “As I told you,, I have bought a place on 
Long River. That’s in another state, several 
hundred miles from here. I have given up the 
sea, but I don’t want to settle down and be a 


26 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


complete lan.d lubber, so I Ve bought me a little 
motor boat.’’ 

little motor boat!” cried Rick. His one 
aim in life had been to own a craft like that. 

‘‘Well, she isn’t so very little,” went on 
Uncle Tod. “She’ll sleep four, as they say, 
and on a pinch five can, snooze aboard. ’ ’ 

‘‘‘But what do you want of a motor boat?” 
asked Mrs. Dalton, looking at Mazie, who, by 
this time, was so friendly with the monkey that 
he was sitting in her lap eating bits of banana. 

“Well, as I said, I don’t want to be a com- 
plete land lubber, and^ as I’m getting too old 
for a salt water cruise,, I’ve decided to try 
fresh. My place is right on Long River, and 
I want a boat to use when I feel like it. 

“So I came to Belemere, bought this craft, 
and christened her Sollie. I ’m going to navigate 
her back to my place, and, not wanting to sail 
alone, I came to get Rick. To tell you the truth 
I didn’t know, until I saw him in the woods, 
what a big chap your boy had grown into, 
Schotzie. But as soon as I saw him I got my 
big idea — ^that is the idea of having him come 
on the cruise with me. We can work our way 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 


27 


into Long River and down that to my place. 
It may take us several weeks, but I ^m in no 
hurry. So if you’ll agree, Rick and I will go 
cruisingj, and we’ll leave Zippo here to keep you 
company.” 

‘‘Oh, may I reaUy have him?” asked the de- 
lighted Mazie. 

“That’s what I brought him for,” answered 
Uncle Tod. “I’m very fond of him, and he 
is of me, but he’ll make up with you all right. 
And when Rick and I are cruising around it 
will be a comfort to know you have company. 
How soon can you be ready, Rick?” 

“In about ten minutes,” answered the boy. 
“Ruddy’s coming,” he added to his mother. 

“Oh, but I haven, ’t yet said you can go,” she 
answered. “We’ll have to talk it over with 
your father.” 

“I guess Dick will say it’s all right!” chuck- 
led Uncle Tod. “He will if he’s anything like 
he used to be — ^fond of adventures.” 

“I guess he’d like to come himself,” said 
Rick. “He let me go camping last year. 
Mother, don’t you think he’ll let me go cruising 
with Unde Tod? I caxK take Ruddy.” 


28 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Well, we ^11 see about it,’’ spoke Mrs. Dal- 
ton. “You’re going to stay a while; aren’t 
you?” she asked her uncle. 

“Why a day or so, maybe. There are a few 
things that need patching up on the Sallie be- 
fore we start oruising. And when we get to 
my place, on Long River, why — ^well, we’ll talk 
of that later!” 

Uncle Tod seemed suddenly to change the 
subject, and Rick thought his mother’s relative 
had some secret he did not want to reveal. To 
Rick’s mind recurred the scene in the woods, 
when he had seen the strange old man seated on 
a log, muttering something about “crazy is as 
crazy does,” and mentioning a name like Nick 
Slither. 

“Whose boat did you buy?” asked Rick, for 
he knew most of the craft in and about Bele- 
mere. 

“It belonged to a chap named Sig Bailey,” 
answered Uncle Tod. 

“He’s the coast guard who found Ruddy, a 
little puppy in the storm, Rick esclaimed. 
“He has two or three boats.” 

“I bought the largest,” said Uncle Tod. 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 


29 


think we’ll have a good time cruising in 
her, Eick.” 

‘‘I know we will!” cried the boy. “That is 
if I can go!” 

There was no difficulty over this when Mr. 
Dalton came home and met Uncle Tod. It was 
almost the close of school for the summer and 
Eick could leave without injuring his chances 
for promotion, his teacher said. 

“My! But you’re lucky!” exclaimed Chot 
Benson, when he came over to find Eick in the 
midst of packing his clothes. ^‘To go off on a 
cruise with your uncle — ” 

‘ ^'He isn ’t my uncle ; he ’s mother ’s, ’ ’ broke in 
Eick, who felt sorry for Chot. 

“Well, it’s pretty nearly the same thing. To 
go off on a cruise with your dog — Oh, but I 
wish I could go!” 

“Do you?” asked a voice at the door, and 
looking up the two boys saw Uncle Tod. 

“Do I?” echoed Chot. “I’d give aU the 
money I’ve got saved up — course it isn’t such 
an awful lot, but — ” 

“Would your folks let you go?” interrupted 
the old sailor. 


30 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Sure they would! Shall I go ask ’emT’ 
eagerly cried Rick’s best chum. 

“Yes,” nodded Uncle Tod. “Wait a min- 
ute!” he called, as Chot was dashing down 
the stairs. “I’d better go with you and ex- 
plain. ’ ’ 

“I’ll come, too!” offered Rick. “Oh, if 
Chot and I can go together, and with Ruddy — 
Oh boy — !” 

And it developed that Chot could go. To the 
boy’s own delight, and that of Rick, Mr. Benson 
said he would be glad to have his son get the 
experience that would be sure to follow a trip in 
the Scdlie. Chot was doing well enough at 
school so he could leave a few weeks before the 
close of the term as Rick had done. And two 
happier boys you never saw. 

“Don’t you wish you were going, Mazief” 
Chot asked as he and Rick packed and repacked, 
for they were always thinking of something else 
they wanted to take with them. 

“No, I’d rather stay home here with Zippo,” 
Mazie answered. ‘ ‘ I love my monkey ! ’ ’ 

“Well, we’ll tell you all about it when we 
get back,” kindly offered Rick. And there was 
^ great deal more to tell than he had any idea 


OFF ON THE CRUISE 


31 


tnere would be — adventures of danger and dar- 
ing to relate. 

‘‘Well, if we^re all ready let^s get started,’’ 
said Captain Tod one morning, when they had 
gone aboard the motor boat Sallie, which was 
finally in shape for cruising. 

“Take good care of the boys!” begged Mrs. 
Dalton, who with her husband and Mazie, and 
in company with Chot’s father and mother had 
come down to the dock to see the start of the 
cruise. 

“I will,” promised Captain Tod, as he was 
called of late — ^more often than “Uncle Tod.” 

“I’ll take good care of Zippo!” called Mazie. 
“Getting him for a pet was like getting a sur- 
prise.” 

“And I think that isn’t going to be the only 
surprise of this cruise,” murmured Uncle Tod. 
Rick was on the verge of asking his uncle, as 
he thought of it, what was meant, but just 
then Ruddy saw a dog with whom he was ac- 
quainted, and started to leave the Sallie to rub 
noses and otherwise exchange ideas. 

“Come back!” cried Rick. 

“All aboard!” shouted Captain Tod. 

“Good-bye!” called those on shore. 


32 


KICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Take the wheel, Eick, and I’ll look after 
the motor,” ordered the jolly skipper. He 
went below into the motor compartment. 
There was a chugging sound as the machinery 
turned over, and then came a loud explosion, 
and Captain Tod came tumbling up to the after 
deck, his face all black, while a cloud of murky 
smoke followed him. 


CHAPTER IV 


GLORIOUS DAYS 

R UDDY’S loud barking followed the ex- 
plosion and the sudden appearance of 
Captain Tod on deck in ‘‘black-face make-up,” 
was the only sound that, for the first few sec- 
onds, relieved the tense situation. For Ruddy 
was quite excited. Perhaps he thought some- 
one had shot a gun, and, being a himting dog 
by instinct, he must have wondered when he 
was supposed to go after the game. Then, too, 
he may have taken Captain Tod for a stranger. 
Certainly the skipper of the Sallie did not seem 
at all like himself, that is as far as his face was 
concerned. 

“Oh, what happened?” cried Mrs. Dalton. 
“Is the boat going to sink? asked Mrs. Ben- 
son. “If it is, 'Chot, you’d better come 
ashore!” 

Mazie had moved over closer to her father, 
and she was glad she had not brought her mon- 
key Zippo to the dock to bid Rick and Ruddy 

33 


34 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


good-bye. For Zippo, now regarded as Ma- 
zie^s pet, had been left home. 

‘‘Are you hurt, Mr. Tod?’^ asked Chot^s 
father, as he leaped down to the deck of the boat 
from the pier, the Sallie having floated out a 
little way from the string piece. 

Captain Tod’s answer was a hearty laugh, 
which, after all, was the best reply possible. 
He continued to laugh as he pulled a handker- 
chief from his pocket and mopped his face, and 
he laughed harder than ever when he saw 
streaks of black on the white hnen. 

“Ha! Ha!” roared the skipper. “It’s my 
CFwn fault! Sig Bailey told me never to turn 
the flywheel over the first time with the electric 
switch on, and that’s just what I did. It’s my 
own fault. I should have known better.” 

“Did she back-fire?” asked Rick, who knew 
something about motor boats. 

“That’s what she did, Rick — back-fired right 
in, my face. But I heard it coming and leaped 
away in time, so there’s no harm done. Only 
I’ll need a swabbing!” and again the captain 
laughed as he wiped his blackened face. 

“Are you sure there’s no danger?” asked 
Mrs. Dalton anxiously. 


GLORIOUS DAYS 


35 


"Nat a Uncle Tod assured ber, as the 
boat slowly drifted. "You see it’s this way. 
To get the motor started I have to turn the 
flywheel over. This sucks gas up into the cyl- 
inders, and an electric spark explodes the gas. 
But this time the explosion took place in the 
muffler, or in some place where it wasn’t sup- 
posed to, because I turned on the electric spark 
too soon. Sig warned me about it. Well, 
there’s one thing — ^I’U know better next 
time!” 

It was out of the question for any one to 
worry over what had happened when Uncle 
Tod’s hearty laugh was heard, and the skipper 
seemed to think it was the best joke of many 
a long day. He sat down on the deck, laughed 
again as he mopped his face, making the hand- 
kerchief blacker than before, and then he wiped 
his eyes and said: 

"Well, I’ll try it again. This time I think 
we’ll get started. This ought to bring us good 
luck.” 

"How?” asked Rick, as the captain started 
down the short companionway that led to the 
motor compartment. "How good luck?” 

"Well, the folks can say good-bye over again. 


36 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


and the more good wishes you have the better 
the luck; isn’t that so!” 

‘ ‘ I guess it is ! ” laughed Rick. ‘ ^ Anyhow I ’m 
glad you aren’t hurt!” 

‘^Oh, it takes more than this to hurt me !” de- 
clared Uncle Tod. ‘^Now don’t worry, folks,” 
he said to the fathers and mothers on shore. 
“I won’t make this mistake again, and I’ll look 
after the boys good and proper! They’ll be 
all right, and so will Ruddy, too!” 

The red setter was as excited as either Rick 
or Chot over getting off. It must be said, 
though, that the two mothers were a bit anxious, 
but if the fathers were they did not show 
it. 

From the forward space below the trtok 
cabin, where the motor was located, came a 
chugging sound. At first it was fitful, and then 
it settled into a throbbing roar which told that 
Captain Tod had been successful in starting the 
engine without any more back-firing. He came 
out on the low deck, just aft of the trunk cabin, 
and spun the wheel both ways to see that it was 
in working order. 

‘‘Now you take the wheel again, Rick,” he 
said, “and put us out into the channel. Chot, 


GLORIOUS DAYS 


37 


you come below with me and I’ll teach you how 
to work the motor. I guess we’re off now — 
good-bye, folks!” 

‘‘Good-bye!” came in chorus from those on 
shore. 

Rick held the wheel. Below, Captain Tod 
showed Chot how to throw over the lever that 
put the already moving motor in gear with the 
propeller shaft. The blades churned the water, 
and the Sallie moved out into the little bay 
which she was to traverse before beginning her 
inland waterway journey to Long River and 
Captain Tod’s distant home. 

Rick waved to his folks on, the dock, and 
Ruddy barked his farewell. Many things were 
to happen before boy and dog saw their home 
port again. 

Once the motor was running well, and it was 
seen that the oiling system was operating, 
there was nothing for Captain Tod and Chot to 
do below, so they came up on deck, in time to 
wave more good-byes. Then, as Rick steered, 
for he was familiar with the channel — ^more so 
than Captain Tod — the latter and Chot sat 
down and watched the passing scenes. 

Belemere, where Rick had lived nearly all his 


38 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


life, was a typical, small seacoast town, and 
somewhat of a summer resort, though the sea- 
son’s visitors had not yet begun arriving. For 
the boys there was nothing to look at that they 
had not seen many times before, yet now every- 
thing seemed to take on a different appearance. 
They looked at things with new eyes because 
of the cruise they were taking. They seemed 
more important, even to themselves, and they 
could not help feeling sorry for other boys — 
their chums and acquaintances — ^who were busy 
about such prosaic labors as bailing out boats 
or setting off for the clamming grounds in old 
and leaky ‘‘tubs.” 

“Hi, Rick, where you going?” cried Jack 
Slade, a lad with whom our hero had clashed the 
previous summer. 

“Oh, off on a cruise — ^with Uncle Tod,” came 
back the answer. 

“You’re lucky!” said Jack. “Ruddy’s go- 
ing, too!” he added, as he caught a glimpse of 
the dog. “Hi, Ruddy, old boy!” 

Ruddy barked joyously in answer, though 
there had been a time, not so long ago, when he 
would have growled and have shown his teeth 
to Jack. But that was before Jack learned to 


GLORIOUS DAYS 


39 


know and love animals. Rick had taught him 
that lesson, with the help of Ruddy. 

‘‘Well, we^re olf to a fair start,’’ observed 
Uncle Tod, as he sat at his ease on. the deck be- 
hind the trunk cabin. “Everything’s in our 
favor — even the weather.” 

It was a glorious day, with the sun shining 
from a cloudless blue sky above. In and out 
among the many harbor craft Rick guided the 
Sallie. It was not the first time he had navi- 
gated like this, but it was the first time he had 
ever felt as though he was part owner in a craft 
— and he felt this way now. 

“How far will we go to-day U’ asked Chot, 
as he leaned over to pat Ruddy’s head. 

“This cruise is to be a sort of go-as-you- 
please-race,” answered Captain, Tod. “We 
don’t have to get to any special place at any 
special time; though I have a certain plan in 
mind,” he added. Rick wondered what this 
plan was, and if it had anything to do with the 
strange talk of Uncle Tod in the woods, when 
he had muttered about Nick Slither. “So we’ll 
cruise along until we’re tired, or until some- 
thing happens, and then we’ll tie up and serve 
mess.” 


40 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


^^Are we going to eat on the boat?^^ asked 
Chot, who had not yet been told all the details 
of the cruise. 

“You’d say so, if you saw all the grub we’ve 
laid in ! ” chuckled Rick. ‘ ‘ Wouldn ’t he, Uncle 
Todr’ 

“Well, we have enough for a while,” ad- 
mitted the skipper. “But if we want anything 
special we can go ashore for it. We won’t be 
very far from shore at any time on our cruise, ’ ’ 
he added. ‘ ‘ Some day, if this trip is a success, 
we may try another, farther out.” 

“Will you take me!” asked Rick. 

“Maybe,” answered Uncle Tod with a smile, 
“and Chot also.” 

“Thanks!” exclaimed both boys. 

They cruised slowly along until noon, when 
Captain Tod, with a laugh, struck eight bells 
and said he would take the wheel while the boys 
ate lunch in the cabin. The skipper had set it 
out for them, and the lads voted it the best meal 
they had ever tasted. 

“Better even than camp!” declared Rick. 

“That’s right!” agreed Chot. 

Chot was given a chance to steer, under the 
guidance of Rick, while the captain was at his 


GLORIOUS DAYS 


41 


meal, for they were now well out of the harbor 
where there were few craft, making the danger 
of collision very slight. 

The glorious day of their start was followed 
by another, after a night during which they tied 
up at a small fishing village some distance from 
Belemere. 

‘‘There’s no need cruising along at night,” 
Captain Tod decided, “as long as we aren’t in 
any hurry. And I think too much of the Sallie 
to run any chances with her.” 

Kick and Chot were beginning to fear their 
cruise was to have no excitement, so peaceful 
were the first three days. They would even 
have welcomed a storm. 

Thus matters stood on, the third night when 
they tied up to a dock in a harbor at a place 
where neither of the three voyagers had ever 
before stopped. 

“I don’t just like this berth,” murmured 
Captain Tod, when he had made arrangements 
for stopping at a certain pier. 

“Why not?” asked Rick. 

“Too many rough characters hanging around 
the docks. I wouldn’t go so far as to say 
they’d take our boat, but if there was anything 


42 


EICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


loose left on deck it might be missing in the 
morning/’ the captain answered. 

‘‘Had we better stand watch?” Chot wanted 
to know. He felt a certain thrill as he asked 
this, and he hoped Captain Tod would say tliis 
would be necessary. But the skipper answered : 

“Oh, I don’t believe we need to do that. 
Buddy will be watch enough.” 

“He’ll surely give the alarm,” declared Bick. 
We’ll let him sleep on deck.” 

The night was warm so that this would be no 
hardship for the dog, and when the three 
turned into the comfortable bunks. Buddy 
stretched out on a piece of carpet beneath the 
steering wheel, which was geared to the out- 
side after partition of the trunk cabin. 

It was well past midnight, as Bick saw by the 
craft’s cabin clock, when he heard Buddy mov- 
ing about on the deck over his head, and listened 
to a low growl from the dog. 

“Some one is trying to board us!” thought 
Bick, as he quietly slid out of his bunk. 


CHAPTER V 


BUDDY AND GOLDILOCKS 

R ick silently began to ascend the com- 
panionway steps that led to the deck, just 
as Ruddy broke in.to a series of fierce barks that 
followed his ominous growls of warning. 

‘‘What^s the matter T' called Uncle Tod, 
poking his head from his bunk. 

‘‘Is it morning?^’ Chot wanted to know. 
Certainly this was noise enough to scare off 
any intruder, Rick mentally decided, and he 
thought it a bit regretfully, for he wanted the 
honor of catching, single handed, some harbor 
thief who might have come aboard to pick up 
whatever was lying around loose. 

“I heard a npise on deck, and Ruddy 
growled,’^ said Rick, in answer to the questions 
of his companions. 

In an instant Captain Tod was out of his 
berth, and, reaching back under his pillow, he 
brought forth his hand clasping an automatic 
pistol. Chot followed the example of the 
43 


44 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


skipper, as far as getting out of bed was con- 
cerned, but of course Chot bad no gun. 

By this time Rick had emerged on deck, and 
by the light of the lantern which was kept aglow 
under the harbor rules, the boy saw Ruddy 
standing at the rail, looking into the dark 
shadows that enshrouded the pier, and growl- 
ing ominously. 

‘‘What is it, old fellowr^ asked Rick, of his 
dog. “Did some one try to come on board 

Ruddy whined, and if ever a dog tried to 
answer, the red setter did then. He was doing 
his best to tell what had happened. 

Rick heard stealthy footsteps moving off up 
the long pier, and Captain Tod coming on deck 
then, clad only in his pajamas, as were Rick and 
Chot, sent a challenge through the night of : 

“Who’s there?” 

No answer came. 

“I’m ready to shoot!” warned the skipper, 
as Ruddy added his bark of defiance to the 
words of the skipper. 

Again there was no reply. Not even the 
footsteps were audible now. 

“I guess we scared ’em off,” commented 
Uncle Tod. “What happened, Rick? I don’t 


BUDDY AND GOLDILOCKS 45 

usually sleep so sound as this. The least noise 
wakes me. What happened I ' ’ 

don’t know. Buddy’s bark aroused me, 
and then I heard a noise on deck that I knew 
Buddy didn’t make.” 

‘‘Just sneak thieves I reckon,” commented 
the skipper. “We’ll take a look though. 
Guess we don’t need to bother to dress. No- 
body wiU see us if we turn up the lights.” 

The Sallie was equipped with a small electric 
lighting system; the incandescents being oper- 
ated by a small dynamo when the engine was 
running, and by a storage battery during other 
times. It was the work of but a moment to 
switch on the deck lights, and though the three 
voyagers stood revealed in their night gar- 
ments, there was none to see them. 

“Guess he didn’t get anything,” said the 
captain, looking about the deck. Indeed there 
was little that could have been taken unless the 
cabin had been entered. 

“Good dog. Buddy!” complimented Chot, as 
the setter nosed about his legs, once putting his 
cold nose on Chot’s bare ankle, and thereby 
causing that lad to emit a little yelp of 
surprise. 


46 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘•What^s wrong over there called a voice 
from out of the darkness of the puer. It was a 
voice seeming to have authority. 

‘‘Who are youT^ asked Captain Tod. 

‘ ‘ The dock watchman. What ’s wrong f ’ * 

‘'Some sneak thief tried to board us, I 
guess,’' was the answer. “See anything of 
him out at your end?” 

There was the flickering of a lantern being 
swung to and fro, and then a voice, coming 
nearer, answered: 

“Nobody here. I’ll come and have a 
look.” 

“Reckon you’re too late,” chuckled Uncle 
Tod. “He got away whoever he was, but he 
didn’t take anything.” 

Further investigation on the part of the dock 
watchman disclosed nothing more than Rick 
had seen when, he first leaped up on dech^ and 
after talking matters over with the pier sentry, 
the captain advising him to keep his eyes 
“peeled” for the remainder of the night, our 
friends again turned in,. 

The morning dawned, or, rather, it hazed up, 
for the sun had no sooner peeped above the 
horizon than clouds began to form, and by the 


RUDDY AND GOLDILOCKS 


47 


time breakfast was over a drizzling rain had 
set in. 

‘‘Oh, well, it wouldn’t be fun to have fair 
weather all the while; would it?” asked Rick of 
Chot, as they donned their oilskins, for they 
would not miss this chance of wearing them. 

“I like a good rain once in a while,,” declared 
Chot. 

“It keeps down the sea dust; doesn’t it?” 
chuckled Uncle Tod. “Well, might as well get 
under way, I reckon. No use hanging around 
here, with the chance that some sneak thief will 
board us. ’ ’ 

A further and more careful isearch by day- 
light revealed nothing wrong on board the 
Sallie, and when the breakfast things had been 
stowed away, and everything made “shipshape 
and Bristol fashion,” the motor was started 
and they slowly wended their way out of the 
little harbor. 

The route our friends were to take was rather 
a roundabout and devious one, because of the 
fact that they could not go far outside in the 
Sallie. Though built for fairly rough weather, 
she could not stand a storm far out at sea. 
And, indeed. Uncle Tod could not have reached 


48 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


his ‘^camp’’ as he called it, on Long Eiver, ex- 
cept by going through a system of inland water- 
ways, consisting of rivers, creeks, bays and 
lakes. He could have saved some time, if he 
had wished, by standing out to sea for a day or 
so, and cutting through an inlet. But time was 
no object and he preferred safety to speed. 

So they proceeded along leisurely, the lads 
enjoying every minute of it, and Ruddy no less, 
I am sure. For Ruddy it was happiness just 
to be with Rick and his boy friends, and now 
Uncle Tod was numbered in this favored class. 

To the three friends — ^no, four, for I will in- 
clude Ruddy in this — ^Uncle Tod told the boys 
something of his varied life. He had been a 
deep sea sailor, and after giving that up he had 
been out west, trying his hand at prospecting 
and mining. So he was a true son of the great 
outdoors — able to hold his own afloat or ashore. 
He could navigate his way around the world, 
or, set down in a dense forest, he could take 
care of himself with almost the skill of an 
Indian or a trapper. 

‘^Only I did get a bit puzzled when I was on 
my way to your house, Rick,^’ the captain had 
to admit with a laugh. 


RUDDY AND GOLDILOCKS 


49 


‘‘How did you happen to come down here to 
buy a boat?’’ asked Rick. “Couldn^’t you get 
one nearer home — I mean your home?” 

“I haven’t got a regular home yet,” ad- 
mitted the skipper, with something like a sigh. 
“It’s hard to settle down after you’ve been a 
rover for as many years as I have. But I aim 
to have a home if things turn out right.” Just 
what these things were the captain did not say. 

“I’m sort of camping out, up there on Long 
River, ’ ’ he went on. ‘ ‘ Another man and I owa 
some property. But I got tired of — ^well, of 
waiting for things to happen, and so I got a sort 
of scheme into my head that I^d like a boat. I 
didn’t stop to think I might get one nearer 
home,” he admitted. “I happened to remem- 
ber that your mother, Rick, lived near the sea, 
and I thought I’d sort of put salt on two birds’ 
tails with one anchor, so to speak — come and 
see her, attend to some business matters, and 
get a craft. And I did it! Now I’m going to 
see if I can work out the rest of the puzzle.” 

“What puzzle?” asked Chot, wonderingly. 

“Oh, one I have in my mind,” said the skip- 
per. “Look out there, Chot!” he called 
sharply. “Mind your hehn!” 


50 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Chot had been given charge of the Sallie 
for the time being, and he was guiding the boat 
through a little fleet of clamming schooners, 
which with sails set, were drifting down the 
bay, the clam rakes,’’ on long lines, trailing 
over the side. As the boats drifted broadside 
before the misty wind, the long prongs of the 
rake scraped the bottom of the bay, gathering 
in the hard clams. Every so often some men 
would haul in on the lines to which the curved 
‘‘rakes” were attached, and from the mass of 
debris, stones and mud that was gathered, 
would pick out the good clams, tossing the resi- 
due overboard. 

“Maybe you’d better take charge,” sug- 
gested Chot. “These fellows won’t get out of 
my course.” 

“Good reason! They have the right of 
way!” chuckled Rick. “Besides, they’re out 
for business and we’re out for pleasure.” 

“Yes, I’ll take the wheel,” said Uncle Tod. 

He swung the Sallie well out of the way of 
an approaching, drifting clam schooner, but 
it was not easy, as there was a strong tide run- 
ning. 

The crew of the clam vessel were all busy 



“In an instant the setter had leaped over the rail.” 




f 


*K=: 


RUDDY AND GOLDILOCKS 


51 


at the rakes, and paid little attention to the 
free course of their craft. The Sallie had 
swung far enough out to be safe from danger, 
but a moment later a smaller motor craft, com- 
ing out from behind an anchored barge, was 
right in the path of the rapidly drifting 
schooner. 

‘‘Look out!^^ cried Uncle Tod. 

“'Mind where you’re going I” Rick warned. 

“What’s the matter with you?” angrily 
shouted the captain of the clammer. 

Our friends could see but one man in the 
small motor boat, which was in great danger of 
being run down. But as the shouts of warning 
increased the two boys saw a little girl, with 
a mass of golden hair, come out of the small 
trunk cabin and join the man at the tiller. 

The skipper of the small motor boat was evi- 
dently doing his best to avoid a collision, and 
he succeeded except for a narrow margin. 
This was enough to cause the drifting schooner 
to strike the motor craft a glancing blow. 
Slight as the crash was, however, it proved 
staggering to the lighter vessel, and as she 
heeled over Rick and Chot had a glimpse of 
“Goldilocks,” as they mentally called the little 


52 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


girl, shooting overboard and into the rain- 
pelted waters of the bay. 

“Look!^^ cried Captain Tod* Rapidly he 
spun the wheel over to go to the rescue, but 
Rick was even quicker. 

‘‘Get her. Ruddy!’’ he cried to the dog. 

In an instant the setter had leaped over the 
rail,, and was swimming toward the little girl, 
whose yellow hair formed a golden halo about 
her head as she raised her hands and began to 
sink beneath the water. 


CHAPTER VI 


hokum’’ dbiscoll 

F rom the small boat, overboard from which 
the little girl had been knocked by the col- 
lision with the schooner, there came a scream, 
and Rick and Chot, looking, saw a woman 
struggling with the man at the wheel. 

‘‘No! No, you shan’t go after her! I’ll go! 
Just a moment! Don’t jump!” cried the man. 
It was evident this woman was the girl’s 
mother. “I’ll save her!” he cried. “You 
stay on board!” 

Overboard he went, and, at the same time one 
of the clammers from the schooner, stopping 
only long enough to shake otf his rubber boots, 
also went over the rail in a graceful dive. 

“I guess we can best help by staying right 
here on, deck and getting as close up as we can,” 
said Captain Tod. 

It was the wisest action^ for there were 
enough in the water now to save Goldilocks, 
and some craft would need to be near at hand 

53 


54 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


when ahe was rescued. The schooner and the 
amall motor boat had drifted apart; the en- 
gine of the craft, with the screaming woman 
on board, having been shut down, evidently by 
the man, before he leaped. 

Following out his idea, Uncle Tod put the 
Sallie around in a sharp turn, and all eyes were 
turned toward the two swimming men and the 
swimming dog. Of these Ruddy was nearest 
to where a patch of white showed all that was 
visible of the little girl. 

An instant later Ruddy had reached this 
patch and, making a dive, he was seen to lift 
his head from the waves. He had something 
in his jaws, and he was paddling hard to keep 
himself as high up in, the water as possible. 

‘‘He^s got her!^^ cried Rick. 

And, indeed Ruddy had Goldilocks. 

Then, swimming hard, the two men reached 
the dog and the little giri about the same time. 
The Sallie was nearing the group in the water. 

‘‘•Stand by to heave a line, Rick!^’ called Cap- 
tain Tod at the wheel, and a little later Goldi- 
locks was hauled up on the deck, half uncon- 
scious from her sudden immersion, but other- 
wise in noi danger. The water was soon 


‘^HOKUM’’ DRISCOLL 


55 


drained from her mouth and throat and with a 
gasp she opened her eyes. 

“Oh, Daddy I’ ^ she sobbed, nestling to her 
father. 

“You're all right. Pet!" he soothed. 

“Sure you're all right," added the man from 
the clam schooner, for he, too, with Euddy, had 
climbed dripping to the after deck of the Sallie, 
“Here — take this!" and rather awkwardly he 
held out an object which he took from his pocket. 

This object proved to be a huge clam, or, 
rather, three clams growing together, much 
as oysters grow, but this was rather an odder 
freak, since it is natural for oysters to cluster 
together, but seldom clams. 

“Where did you get that?" cried the father 
of the rescued girl, and he sat up suddenly, tak- 
ing the triple clam from the wet hand of the 
other man. “ Where 'd you get it!" and his 
voice showed unusual eagerness. 

“Why, it came up in my rake this morning," 
was the answer. “First one I ever see. I was 
sorter givin' it to your little gal, 'count of her 
bein' scared." 

“Thanks! I'll keep it for her. You are 
sure you don't want it!" 


56 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Course not! It’s odd enough — I never see 
one afore, but I don’t bother with such things. 
I stuck it in my pocket jest afore we bumped 
into you, or you into us — don’t know which 
it was.” 

“Sort of six of one and half a dozen of the 
other,” remarked [Uncle Tod. “But that lady 
over on your boat seems -anxious to talk to 
you,,” he went on, as cries came from the 
smaller motor craft. 

“Oh, tell mother I’m all right. Daddy!” 
begged Goldilocks, or “Pet” as her father had 
caUed her. 

“We’ll be there in a minute!” he shouted 
across the open stretch of water. “You’re 
sure this isn’t a fake?” he asked, as he looked 
at the triple clam. 

“A fake? Why of course not ! Who ’d want 
to fake anything that grew natural?*” asked 
the clam digger. 

“Lots more than you think would,” was the 
somewhat odd answer. “I’m much obUged to 
you for it — ^for Pet, that is. I sort of collect 
such things.” 

“You’re welcome to it, Mr.— er-^” 

He paused suggestively. 


“HOKUM” DRISCOLL 


57 


‘ ^ Driscoll is my name. Hank Driscoll, though 
I^m called ‘Hokum* Driscoll by my friends, and 
1*11 count you all in,** and he looked around on 
the circle that surrounded him and his sunny- 
haired daughter. 

‘ ‘ Mine *s Parson. I *m mate of that schooner, * * 
and the clam digger indicated the vessel from 
which he had leaped. 

Oaptain Tod completed the introductions by 
presenting himself and the boys, and then sug- 
gested that if he left Mate Parson aboard his 
vessel, and took Mr. Driscoll and Mary — 
which the boys learned was her right name — 
to their craft, Mrs. Driscoll *s mind would be 
easier. 

“Yes, it was all I could do to stop her from 
jumping overboard,** said Hokum Driscoll. 
“I knew there wasn*t any need of that, with all 
this help so near at hand — especially your dog,** 
and he looked at Captain Tod. 

“ *Tisn*t mine — ^it*s my nephew *s,** said the 
skipper of the Sallie. “Yes, Buddy surely was 
on the job, as the boys say.** 

“Gk)od old dog!** murmured Hokum Dris- 
coll, patting Buddy *s head, an attention which 
Bick*s pet seemed to enjoy. “Well, Pet,** her 


58 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


father said to her^ ‘‘are you all right now? 
Shall we go back to mother?’’ 

“Yes,” she answered weakly, for she had 
been through a trying experience. 

The mate having been put aboard the clam 
schooner, where the crew expressed regret at 
the accident (though it was not altogether their 
fault) the Sallie was put about and headed for 
the smaller motor boat, where Mary’s mother 
anxiously waited. 

“Will you come on board?” asked Mr. Dris- 
coll, as he and Mary were about to leave the 
Sallie. 

“Please come!” begged Mrs. Driscoll. “I 
want to thank you all for saving Pet — espe- 
cially that splendid dog!” and her eyes filled 
with tears as she clasped her daughter to her, 
and reached out with one hand to pet Ruddy 
who, looking toward Rick for permission, had 
leaped aboard the smaller craft, which was 
named, in honor of the sunny-haired girl — Pet. 

“Here’s something to help the show 
along. Mother!” said Mr. Driscoll to his wife, 
as he pulled out the big triple dam and put 
it on a locker seat. 

“Oh, you and your show!” laughed his wife. 


‘ ‘ HOKUM DRISCOLL 


59 


Mary then went into the cabin to put on dry 
clothes, seeming httle the worse for her acci- 
dent. 

“It will be a regular show when I get it 
started!’’ declared Mr. Driscoll. “If I only 
had a two headed allig-ator — ” 

“A two headed alligator!” exclaimed Rick 
and Chot in concert. 

“I see that my husband hasn’t told you 
what business he is in,” said Mrs. Driscoll. 
“Though you might guess, when he collects 
such specimens as that,” and she pointed to 
the odd clam. 

“I’m in the show business,” said Mr. Dris- 
coll himself. “I thought I had told you, but 
perhaps I didn’t. I used to be with a circus, 
and help run the side-shows,” he went on. “I 
know how eager people are to look at something 
freakish and strange, so for some years I have 
run shows of that kind. I sold my last one, 
and I’m getting such things together for an- 
other. But it’s slow work. Freaks are get- 
ting scarce, or else they cost so much you can’t 
make any money. 

“Having nothing special to do I’m cruising 
around, and whenever I hear of any freak I 


60 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


try to get it. I have one or two, but this clam 
was a regular find — didn’t cost me a cent, 
either ! ’ ’ and Mr. Driscoll seemed much pleased. 

‘‘Have you got ’em on board?” Chot wanted 
to know. 

“Got what?” 

“Your freaks,” Rick said as he began to 
look interested. The chance to see part of a 
side-show at close quarters and free, was not 
to be lightly passed over. 

“Got ’em here? Gracious, no!” laughed 
Hokum Driscoll. “One’s a big snake with a 
double tail, and the other is a monkey with 
red hair. I have them on shore. But they 
aren’t enough to start a show.” 

“A monkey with red hair?” exclaimed Uncle 
Tod. “That interests me. I know something 
of monkeys. I’ve been in South America and 
I never saw a monkey with red hair, though 
there are lots with brown fur that’s almost red. 

“To tell you the truth,” admitted Hokum 
Driscoll in a low voice, “I don’t dare let this 
monkey get out in the rain,. I’m afraid — ^I’m 
very much afraid that his hair is dyed red, and 
I’m not prying too closely into it. I bought 
him in good faith, though, as the only red haired 


‘ ^ HOKUM DRISCOLL 


61 


monkey in captivity, and I’ll so exhibit him. 
But IVe got to pick up a lot more freaks be- 
fore I can give a show. This clam is good, 
but I wish it was five times as big. The public 
wants things it can see easily — that’s why I’d 
like a two headed alligator I” he ended with 
a laugh. 

“Well, if we come across one in our travels 
we’ll send you word,” promised Rick. 

“I wish you would!” said Hokum Driscoll 
eagerly. “Here,, this address will reach me,” 
and he gave Rick a card. “Any sort of a freak 
will do — ^you boys know what I want. It 
doesn,’t have to be an alligator with two heads. 
A dog or oat doubled the same way, would be 
a great find.” 

‘-‘Oh, Henry! Don^t bother these good 
friends with such nonsense!” urged Mrs. Dris- 
coll. 

“’Tisn’t nonsense!” declared her husband. 
“I’m in the show business. It’s a good honest 
business and I don’t advertise what I can’t per- 
form. I play fair — except maybe in the matter 
of that red haired monkey,” he added as an 
afterthought. “And I’m not asking too many 
questions about him. If there’s any cheating 


62 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


in that I as badly cheated as the next one, so 
that’s fair. 

‘ ^ But if you should hear of anything — ^you ’re 
making quite a long cruise,” he went on, ‘‘just 
get word to me and I’ll come as quickly as I 
can and try to secure the freak. I’d like to 
start the show this summer. It’s the only kind 
of business I know anything about — that and 
running a motor boat. I’m not ashamed of it 
for people have to be amused as well as in- 
structed. I can’t do the latter, so I’ll have to 
stick to the former, and I’ll do it honestly!” 

In spite of the showman’s rather rough man- 
ners and boasting ways. Uncle Tod and the 
boys formed a liking for Hokum Driscoll. 
Whatever else he was, he was honest, though 
his ambitions may not have been of the highest 
order. But, after all, isn’t it better to give a 
clean^ honest side-show than to be in some other, 
less honest but so-called more “respectable” 
business? 

Well, we must be going,” said Uncle Tod, 
as they started toward the Sallies which had 
been made fast to the anchored Pet, 

‘^And don’t forget my freaks!” urged Mr. 
Driscoll. 


HOKUM” DRISCOLL 


63 


‘‘We’ll be on the lookout,” promised Eick. 
“Come on, Ruddy.” 

The setter seemed to have made such friends 
with Mary that he did not care to leave her. 
But Ruddy was too well trained to need more 
than two calls to join his master. So, with a 
final wave of his tail, while Mary gave him a 
last caress, the dog followed the two boys and 
Uncle Tod on board the Sallie. 

The line was cast off, and with expressions 
of hope that all would meet again, the two 
parties went their separate ways. 

The rain kept up, but neither Rick nor Chot 
minded this. As for Ruddy, all weather seemed 
the same to him, as long as he was with Rick. 
Captain Tod was busy in the cabin, over some 
papers all the rest of the day, leaving the navi- 
gation of the boat to the boys — except in some 
situation where careful steering was needed. 

“I guess it’s going to clear,” said Chot 
toward evening, when they were approaching a 
small town, where they proposed to tie up for 
the night. 

“I hope so,” echoed Rick. “Maybe you’d 
better see if that forward line is clear.” 

Chot made his way toward the bow with this 


64 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


end in view, and as he passed one of the cabin 
ports, where he could look in and see Uncle 
Tod, the boy came to a sudden stop, and gazed 
intently in through the glass. 

‘^What^s the matter!^’ asked Rick, struck by 
something odd in GhoUs attitude. 

^‘Come and look 'at your uncle,’’ advised 
Chot in a low voice. 


CHAPTER VII 


A NIGHT BLAZE 

R ick, who was at the wheel, throttled down 
the motor to its slowest speed. There 
was a control lever beside the steering appara- 
tus by which this could be done. Then, as the 
Sallie could safely be left to her own guidance 
for a minute or two, since no other craft was 
within sight, Rick was able to leave his post. 

‘‘What^s the matter P' he asked Chot, as he 
crept forward along the rail. There was space 
enough between the side of the trunk cabin and 
the rail of the boat, for a person, to pass on 
either side. 

^‘He^s acting funny, was Chot’s comment. 
The boys talked in whispers, and as Rick ad- 
vanced he made as little noise as possible. 

Standing beside his chum, who was gazing in 
through one of the cabin ports, Rick beheld a 
sight which caused him astonishment at the 
time, and anxiety later. For he saw his uncle, 
seated at the small table in the cabin, looking 

65 


66 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


at what seemed to be pieces of stone that glit- 
tered brightly even in the dim light of the late 
afternoon with the storm clouds just clearing. 

And,, as the boys looked, Uncle Tod raised 
one of the pieces of rock to his mouth, seemed 
to taste it and then, placing it back on the table, 
he laughed heartily. It was such an odd time 
for mirth, and such a strange thing to laugh 
at — ^merely some pieces of rock — that the boys 
gazed at one another in astonishment. 

^‘What do you make of that!^’ asked Chot. 

‘‘I donT know,^’ Rick had to admit. ^‘He 
seems mighty pleased over what he has there. ^ ^ 

‘ * I should say so ! Say, I know what it is U ^ 

‘‘What?^’ 

‘‘Gold!’’ 

“Gold?” asked Rick in a whisper. “How 
could it be gold?” 

“Well, I think your uncle has discovered 
a gold mine somewhere, and he’s bought this 
boat and is going back to the mine to get out the 
gold ore. That’s what he’s looking at now — 
gold ore!” 

Rick was going to declare that such an idea 
was all nonsense — that there was no gold, 
and never had been, in that part of the country 


A NIGHT BLAZE 


67 


where his uncle had his camp on Long River. 
But as Rick was going to make his statement 
the rays of the setting sun struck in through 
a port hole on the opposite side of the cabin. 
And the rays, falling full on one of the pieces 
of rock, made it glitter as though it were stud- 
ded with diamonds. 

^‘Look at that!^’ hoarsely whispered 
Chot. 

Rick was about to reply, when Uncle Tod 
suddenly arose and, with a quick motion of his 
hand, swept into a strong wooden box the pieces 
of glittering rock that had been spread on the 
table in front of him. 

Seeing the skipper thus preparing to come 
out on deck, the two boys quickly and silently 
separated, Chot going forward to see that the 
bow line was in readiness for making fast, and 
Rick to take the wheel again. 

Uncle Tod came up out of the little compan- 
ionway. His face showed none of the mirth 
and pleased satisfaction that had lighted it as 
he gazed at the rocks when he thought himself 
unobserved. But he was his usual jolly self 
as he spoke to Rick, saying: 

^‘We’d better get ready to land. I felt you 


68 


EICK AND EUDDY AFLOAT 


slow up. Did you see a good place to tie to for 
the night! 

‘^There’s a dock over there/ ^ and Eick in- 
dicated one they were approaching. This was 
not exactly an answer to the skipper’s question, 
but the boy was too excited over what he had 
seen to know just what to say. 

‘‘That’s a private dock,” observed Uncle 
Tod. “We’d have to hunt up the owner and 
get permission to tie to it. Better go a little 
farther up stream. I think there’s a public 
dock there. Or, if we like, we can anchor out 
in mid channel. There’s the dinghy in case 
we want to go ashore,” and he indicated a 
small rowboat towed astern of the Sallie, 

‘ ‘ Let ’s anchor out, ’ ’ suggested Eick. ‘ ‘ Then 
we won’t have to be always worrying about 
somebody coming aboard in the night — some 
thief I mean. ’ ’ 

“Yes, it will save worrying,” agreed the cap- 
tain. “All right, pick out a good place and 
drop the anchor.” 

The Sallie chugged her way on up the wind- 
ing stream until^ as a bend was rounded, there 
came into view a little village, the white spired 
church standing out wondrously beautiful in 


A NIGHT BLAZE 


69 


the last rays of the setting snn, which finally 
succeeded in breaking through the storm clouds 
as the day ended. 

^‘That^s a good place to stop,’’ commented 
iUncle Tod. ‘^And I can go ashore and mail 
a letter. Do you boys want to get supper while 
I’m goneT’ he suggested. 

will!” offered Chot. It’s my turn, any- 
how.” 

“That means it’s my turn at the dishes after- 
ward I ” laughed Eick. ‘ ‘ Go ahead, Uncle Tod I 
We’ll have grub ready when you get back.” 

The old sailor went below, while Eick and 
Chot looked at one another. The same idea was 
in the minds of both lads. Did the captain’s 
proposed visit ashore have to do with gold — 
diamonds — at any rate the sparkling rooks 
over which he had laughed so silently and se- 
cretely? That was something the boys would 
have given much to know. 

If Uncle Tod went below to write a letter 
it was a very short one, for he came up on deck 
in a few minutes, with no missive visible, and 
started astern where the painter of the little 
towed dinghy was made fast. 

Uncle Tod pulled the small boat close enough 


70 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


so that he could drop into it and cast off while 
the Sallie was yet moving, at the same time call- 
ing to the boys : 

‘‘Drop anchor off the town, and 111 row up 
there after I go to the post office. I want a 
bit of a walk and a pull at the oars.’^ 

“I should say he did,’’ commented Rick, when 
his uncle was out of hearing distance. “He 
might have waited until we got up closer to the 
village. He’d have saved himself a mile row.” 

“And a bit of a walk, too,” observed Chot. 
“But then, as he says he may want exercise.’^ 

For Uncle Tod had left the motor boat some 
distance below the village, acting on a sudden 
impulse it would seem. 

To the credit of Rick and 'Chot be it said 
that neither proposed a visit to the cabin, to 
see if they could get a glimpse of those spark- 
ling rooks the captain had been looking at. 
Though I need not have told you this since I 
have already informed you that Chot and Rick 
were Boy Scouts. 

“Well, it’s his own affair,” said Rick, as he 
and his chum prepared to drop the anchor over- 
board. “He never said anything at our house 
about having a gold mine.” 


A NIGHT BLAZE 


71 


^‘How about diamonds?^^ asked Chot ea- 
gerly. 

‘‘Hu! Diamonds!^’ scoffed Bick. “The 
only place you can get diamonds is in South 
Africa P’ 

“Or Brazil/’ suggested the other lad. 

“That^s right!” suddenly exclaimed Bick. 
“Uncle Tod has been to South America! I for- 
got about that! Well, whatever he has is his, 
I guess. When he wants us to know he’ll tell 
us. Now what are we going to have for grub? 
I’m getting hungry!” 

“I’m not getting — I am!” laughed Chot. 
“What place is this!” and he indicated the 
village which straggled itself along one side of 
the stream in which they were anchored. 

“I don’t know,” Bick answered. “Uncle 
Tod may tell us when he gets back.” 

The supper was on the table, and Chot was 
ready to cook the meat as soon as the dinghy 
should be seen approaching, a sight for which 
both boys looked momentarily. 

Soon the skipper was observed to be putting 
out from one of the two docks along the village 
shore, for he had rowed up to this point before 
landing. 


72 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Start things going,’’ advised Rick. “He’ll 
be here in about five nnnutes.” 

“Grub ready?” asked the skipper with a 
laugh, as he climbed up on deck in less than the 
time indicated. 

“Just waiting for you,” answered Rick. 
“What place is this?” 

“Town of Waterford. Not much of a place. 
I think we’d better anchor a bit higher up after 
supper, boys.” 

“Why?” asked Chot, sticking his head out 
of the galley port for a breath of fresh air. 

“Well I heard, up at the post office, that a 
gang of hoodlums have been making free with 
boats around here lately, and we don’t want 
any trouble. It’s just aa easy to go up about 
haK a mile. I don’t believe they’ll bother us 
then.” 

Accordingly, after the meal, when Uncle Tod 
had insisted on helping Rick do the dishes, the 
anchor was pulled up and they cruised slowly 
to a less puhHo part of the stream. 

“You boys can go ashore and stretch your 
legs if you like,” said Uncle Tod vffien, in the 
afterglow of the evening, he sat on deck peace- 


A NIGHT BLAZE 


73 


fuUy smoking his pipe. ^‘You’ll sleep better 
for a trip ashore.’’ 

‘^Yes, I guess so,” agreed Eidk, and with 
Buddy accompanying them they rowed to land. 
They walked down to the village, to get some 
ice cream sodas, a luxury they had been denied 
since beginning the cruise, and Buddy seemed 
glad of the change from the Bailie, for it gave 
him a chance for much-needed exercise. 

Bick and Chot also took advantage of the 
opportunity to send home some souvenir post- 
als, mailing them at the post office. The cards 
told the folks that all was well with the voy- 
agers. 

‘‘Did you mention anything about the — the 
glittering rocks?” asked Bick of his chum. 

“No. Did you want me to?” 

“No. We’d better find out more about them 
before we say anything.” 

“That’s what I think,” agreed Chot. 

It was dark when they reached the Bailie, 
and Captain Tod had the deck and cabin lights 
glowing. 

“Well, boys, it’s 9 o’clock and I’m going to 
turn in,” he said, “you can come when you get 


74 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


ready. We don’t need to set any watch I 
think. We’re safe enough here.” 

So the boys thought. It was quiet and calm 
where they were anchored and as there was 
little to do, save talk, Chot and Rick soon ex- 
hausted this amusement and turned in. 

In the middle of the night Rick was awakened 
by feeling some one pulling at the light bed 
clothes that covered him in his bunk. At first 
he had a sort of dream that he was in camp, 
sleeping with Chot, and that his chum was try- 
ing to get more than his share of the blanket. 

* ^ Quit ! Go on away ! ’ ’ muttered Rick, sleep- 

iiy- 

The pulling continued, however, and then 
Rick heard Ruddy give a low bark. Instantly 
the boy was awake. 

‘‘What’s the matter. Ruddy?” he asked. 
The dog barked again — ^not loudly, and taking 
hold of the coat of Rick’s pajamas began pull- 
ing on it. 

“Oh, you want me to come out on deck! 
Something wrong!” said the boy, the sleep 
rapidly clearing from his brain. 

He glanced quickly about the cabin, which 


A NIGHT BLAZE 


75 


was dimly lighted. Neither his un.cle nor Chot 
had stirred, nor had they been alarmed. 

‘‘All right, Buddy! I’m coming!” whis- 
pered Rick. He wondered if it could be 
thieves? But he dismissed this idea almost as 
soon as it occurred to him. For if it had 
been some midnight visitor Ruddy would not 
have barked in such low tones. Clearly this 
was something that the dog, intelligent as he 
was, could not understand. 

And it needed but a glance from the deck 
of the Scdlie, when Rick reached that vantage 
point, to show the cause of the dog’s alarm. 
For in the western sky there was a red and 
flickering blaze, which, Rick could see, came 
from the roof of a small house, not far from 
the water’s edge. It was burning. 

‘ ‘ Fire ! Fire ! ” cried Rick, and to this alarm 
Ruddy added his loudest barks. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE FOUB LEGGED HEH 

N either Uncle Tod nor Chot were such 
sound sleepers that it needed more than 
two calls on the part of Rick, and a few of 
Ruddy ^s barks, to awaken them. Up on deck 
they came running, nor did they need to ask the 
cause of the alarm. 

For the fire was burning more briskly now, 
illuminating the water between the Sallie and 
the shore. There were no other boats near by, 
and as yet no one on land seemed to have paid 
any attention to the fire. 

‘‘Come on, boys!’' cried Uncle Tod, as he 
hurried down Into the cabin again to put on a 
few clothes. “ We Ve got to do our part I The 
family in that house doesn’t seem to know their 
place is on fire! Lively now!” 

Rick and Chot needed no such advice as this. 
They were dressed — ^that is with what few 
clothes were needed on such a hot night — before 
the skipper again appeared on deck. 

76 


THE FOUR LEGGED HEN 


77 


get in the dinghy!’’ cried Rick. 

‘‘Hold it for me!” begged the captain. 

Don ’it go without me!” 

“We won’t!” promised Chot. “Down, 
Ruddy!” he commanded, for the setter was 
leaping about, barking his loudest and much 
excited. 

And now some dogs on shore, aroused either 
by the glare of the fire or by Ruddy’s alarm, 
added their barks to his, and it would seem that 
some inmates of the burning house must be 
aroused. There were no neighbors living very 
near, or some of them might have called out 
a warning had they seen the fire. 

“What can we do to put it out?” asked Rick, 
when he and his unde and chum were rowing 
toward the shore as fast as they could go. 

“Have to form a bucket brigade,” answered 
Uncle Tod. “That is unless some one has a 
force pump. But we ought to have help. We 
three can’t do much to fight the fire, though 
we can help the family to get out and save some 
of their belongings.” 

“A fire in the country is a bad thing,” ob- 
served Chot. ‘ ‘ There aren ’t any fire engines. ’ ’ 

“A fire’s a bad thing at any time and any 


78 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


place/’ said the skipper, as he swayed at the 
oars, for he had assumed the duty of getting 
the small boat to shore. Ruddy was perched 
at the bow, doing his full duty as he under- 
stood it — which was to keep up a continual 
barking. 

And either his alarm, the barking of other 
dogs or the light in the sky had, by this time, 
roused some men living at a little distance and 
on either side of the burning house. For now 
dim figures could be seen running across the 
fields toward the blaze. 

Captain Tod landed with the two boys and 
Ruddy. The small boat was made fast to a 
post in the bank and they started on a run. to- 
ward the fire. 

‘‘Will it be safe to leave the Sallie all alone!” 
asked Rick, as he hurried along at his uncle’s 
side. 

“Why not! She won,’t pull up anchor and 
leave; will she!” 

“No, but somebody might board her and 
take — ” Rick was going to say “your gold or 
diamonds” but he thought better of it, and he 
changed it to — ” they might take our things.” 

“Oh, I don’t believe they will,” said Captain. 


THE FOUR LEGGED HEN 


79 


Tod. “And^ anyhow, there isn’t so much 
that’s worth taking, considering the risk. My 
money is well hidden. I don’t believe even 
Ruddy could find it. Now we must get busy 
at the fire.” 

By this time the three had reached the 
burning house, getting there at the same time 
that a number of neighbors arr'ived. There 
were several other dogs besides Ruddy, and, 
after rubbing noses and otherwise getting ac- 
quainted, they contented themselves with bark- 
ing and getting under the feet and in the way 
of the hurrying, excited men. 

‘^Where’s a pump?” 

‘‘Where’s some water?” 

“Get the pails!” 

“We’ve got to start a bucket brigade!” 

These were only a few of the excited cries 
that, added to the crackle of the blaze, made a 
riot in the night. Some men who evidently 
were acquainted with the premises, found a 
few pails, and two stationed themselves at an 
iron pump connected with the well. 

“Somebody’s got to carry things out!” 
cried a man whose chin whiskers wobbled curi- 
ously up and dovm when he talked. 


80 


RICE AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


^^Ajid rouse up Jim and his folks added 
another man, Jim^’ evidently being the head 
of the house that was on fire. 

However there was no need to do this, for 
now some heads began to appear at upper win- 
dows of the blazing dwelling, and a woman’s 
voice asked: 

^‘What’s the matter down there?” 

‘‘Your house is on fire!” cried half a dozen 
in a chorus. 

“My land sakesP’ the woman cried. “Did 
you hear that, Jim! The house is on fire! 
Get up!” 

Another woman screamed, a man’s shout was 
heard from within the house and then the op- 
erations of rescue, of salvaging the furniture 
and of putting out the fire all began at once. 

In fact there was little in the way of personal 
rescue to do, for the family, once they under- 
stood what the excitement was about, hurried 
down, half dressed, and ran outside. Then they 
began carrying things out, with the usual curi- 
ous happening of some one throwing the clock 
out of the window, and carefully carrying down 
a feather pillow from a bed. 

A ladder was brought, placed against the 


THE FOUR LEGGED HEN 


81 


burning side of the house and pails of water 
passed up to be dashed over the roof. For- 
tunately the fire had started on a low extension 
of the dwelling, and in a part where no one 
slept. So the blaze was easier to fight than 
otherwise would have been the case. The men 
worked eagerly and rapidly, swiftly passing 
the water pails from the well until a small force 
pump was put into operation. 

All this with a result that, much sooner than 
would have seemed possible, the fire was out 
and the house was not badly damaged. The 
neighbors helped carry back the furniture that 
had been taken out in such a rush, Chot and 
his friends doing their share, and Ruddy bark- 
ing as usual. The clock was a wreck. 

Suddenly one of the girls of the household — 
there were two girls and two small boys — cried : 

‘^The chicken coop is on fire! We’ve got 
to save Esmerelda!” 

Some sparks, falling on the hen house, had 
started a small blaze there, it being unnoticed 
until now. 

‘‘We’ll soon have that out,” said the man 
with the wobbling chin whiskers as he started 
on a run with a pail of water. But Ruddy, not 


82 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


exercising his usual good sense, got in front of 
the man, tangled himself up in the fireman’s legs 
and the pail-carrier went down, splashing the 
water all over the setter. Not that it mattered 
much, for Ruddy loved water in the summer. 
But it spoiled the intention of the bewhiskered 
fire-fighter. 

‘‘Oh, Esmerelda will bum!” cried one of the 
girls. “We must save her!” 

“Is one of your sisters out there — in the hen 
coop?” asked Rick. 

“No, Esmerelda is a chicken — a four legged 
chicken! Oh, come on, Alice!” she cried. 
“We must save Esmerelda!” 


CHAPTER IX 


mCK IS WOKHIED 

R ick and Chot, standing beside the girl 
who had spoken of the four legged hen 
while nearly every one else hurried with water 
to put out the blaze on the chicken coop, hardly 
knew whether she was joking or not. But the 
girl seemed serious. 

^‘Oh, Alice!’’ she cr<ied again, beckoning to 
her older sister, who had just picked up the 
ruins of the clock, smashed by being thrown 
from the window. ‘^Oh, Alice, we’ve got to 
save Esmerelda!” 

‘Hs there really a four legged hen. out there?” 
asked Rick. He saw that the blaze at the coop 
would soon be out, with little danger to the hen 
house. 

‘‘Of course there is!” said the girl who had 
given the alarm. “If she isn’t burned I’ll 
show her to you!” 

“Guess there isn’t much burned out at the 
chicken, coopj,” observed Chot. “ They got the 
83 


84 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


fire out pretty quickly even if Ruddy did upset 
one man with a pail of water, he chuckled. 
The chin-whiskered fire-fighter had not sutfered 
much from his tumble, and the kick he aimed at 
Ruddy, while it did not reach the dog (as per- 
haps the man never intended it should) had 
brought Rick’s pet back to his senses, and he 
was more quiet, not getting in the way any more. 

‘‘Come on, Jennie!” suggested the girl ad- 
dressed as Alice. “Let’s see if Esmerelda’s 
all right.” 

“How’d she come to have four legs?” asked 
Rick, as he and Chot followed the two girls. 
There were enough neighbors on hand now to 
help get the furniture back in the house, and as 
the main part of the dwelling was not damaged 
the family was not homeless. 

“I don’t know,” answered Jennie. “This 
one chicken came out of the shell with four legs. 
We didn’t think she’d live, but she did, and 
now she’s almost a year old. She’s a great 
curiosity, as well as a pet and we like her. I 
hope she isn’t burned.” 

“Oh, I guess she’ll be aU right,” said Rick. 
“Here, we’ll take one of these lanterns, and go 
see about Esmerelda.” 


RICK IS WORRIED 


85 


When the light of the fire died down the 
place was in darkness until several neighbors 
brought over lanterns, and one of these was 
now pressed into service to inspect the chicken 
house. 

‘‘There she is — ^and she^s all right cried 
Jennie, when the door had beTen opened, and 
the lantern flashed inside, revealing a number of 
hens and roosters, much puzzled and alarmed, 
perched on their roosts. 

“Idl get her,^’ offered Alice, going in. 

There were a few frightened crows from the 
roosters, some duckings and cacklings from the 
hens and a fluttering on the part of Esmerelda 
as Alice picked up the freak chicken. And as 
the girl brought Esmerelda out where the light 
from the lantern fell on her, Rick and Chot 
could see that the fowl had four perfect legs, 
where, in the ordinary course of nature, but 
two should have grown. The two extra legs 
were small, but otherwise just like the others, 
and they stuck out a little above the one on 
which Esmerelda had been perched. 

“Say, she sure is a curiosity exclaimed 
Chot. 

“I should say so!’^ agreed Rick. “Does she 


86 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT, 


scratch with all four legs! he asked the girls. 
‘‘If she does she must get twice as much to eat 
as the other hens.’' 

“No, she seems to use only the two larger 
legs, ’ ' Alice stated. But she 's strong and 
healthy and we like her. I’m so glad she 
wasn’t burned.” 

“None of the chickens were,” observed Jen- 
nie. “The fire didn’t get inside. You men 
and boys worked too fast!” she added with a 
grateful smile. “But where do you live around 
here?” she asked, as she looked more closely 
at Rick and Chot, and glanced down at Ruddy 
who had now joined his young master. “Have 
you just moved here?” she inquired. 

“No, we don’t live around here,” Rick an- 
swered. “We’re cruising with my uncle. Our 
boat is out in the river. My dog saw your 
house on fire. I guess he saw it first, for he 
got me up and when I yelled I didn’t see any- 
body around.” 

‘ ‘ Then I guess we have you and your dog to 
thank for not letting our house get burned 
worse,” remarked Alice. “We never knew a 
thing until mother heard the excitement outside 
and called father.” 


RICK IS WORRIED 


87 


‘‘Well, I’m glad Buddy got me up,” said 
Rick. “And now I guess we’d better be going 
back. There doesn’t seem much more we can 
do.” 

“No, thank you, I guess our neighbors will 
give us all the help we need,” said Jennie, as 
she softly stroked the feathers of the four leg- 
ged hen. 

“Would you sell her?” asked Chot, who had 
been letting his chum do most of the talking 
up to now. 

“Sell who?” Alice wanted to know. 

“That four legged chicken,” Chot replied, 
and when Rick looked curiously at him Chot 
added: “Mr. Driscoll would pay a good sum 
for a freak like that.” 

“You’re right!” exclaimed Rick. “I for- 
got about him. Maybe he would buy your four 
legged chicken,” he went on. 

“Who?” asked Jennie. 

“Mr. Driscoll — ‘Hokum’ Driscoll he calls 
himself. He used to have a circus side-show, 
and he’s getting up another exhibition. We 
met him when his daughter fell overboard. He 
has a triple clam and he’d like to get a two 
headed alligator, or a, cow or something like 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


b6 

that. He’d buy your four legged hen!” ended 
Bick eagerly. 

‘^Do you think he would?” asked Jennie, 
who seemed to be the one in charge of the curi- 
osity. often thought maybe I could sell her 
and get some money. She’s my chicken,” she 
went on. ‘‘Alice and I take turns in having 
those that hatch out, and Esmerelda is mine. 
I like her, but we’ll need some money, after 
this fire,” she said, a bit sadly. 

“I’m sure Mr. Driscoll would buy this fowl,” 
said Eick. “Wait, I’ll ask my uncle what he 
thinks he ’d give. ’ ’ 

At that moment Captain Tod came up, search- 
ing for the boys to get them to go back to the 
Sallie, since there was nothing more they could 
do on shore. He was shown the four legged 
chicken. 

“That is just the sort of freak DriscoU would 
want,” said the skipper. “I’ll tell you what 
I ’ll do, ’ ’ he went on, after a moment of thought. 
“It may be worth more, or it may be worth 
less to him. But I’ll buy that fowl from you for 
twenty-five dollars and if Driscoll gives me 
more I’ll send the money to you. How’s 
that?” 


KICK IS WORRIED 


89 


^‘Oh, I never thought Esmerelda would be 
worth all that!*^ exclaimed Jennie in an awed 
voice. ^‘Did you, Alice? Twenty-five dol- 
lars! What a lot of money! But are you 
sure Mr. Driscoll would pay you that much for 
her?’^ she asked, doubtfully.’^ 

‘‘I’ll take a chance,” said Captain Tod. 
“And if he gives me any more it will come to 
you. I should judge the average price of freak 
four legged chickens would be about twenty- 
five dollars. If it was a two headed alligator 
now — well, of course it would come a good deal 
higher. But will you sell Esmerelda for twen- 
ty-five?” 

“I’ll ask mother,” said Jennie, as she ran off 
with the odd hen under her arm. 

Mrs. Murdock — ^which was the name of the 
family whose house had been burning — evi- 
dently thought twenty-five dollars a fair price, 
and Jennie received permission to sell. Es- 
merelda was placed in a crate and carried by 
Chot and Rick on their way back to the dinghy, 
Ruddy trotting along beside them, sniffing now 
and then at the queer hen. 

Inquiry by Captain Tod brought the infor- 
mation that the neighbors of the Murdocks 


90 EICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


would do all that needed to be done now, and, 
not having learned how the fire started — for 
there seemed to be no information on this point 
— the voyagers rowed back to the Sallie, an- 
other member of the crew, Esmerelda, having 
been added to the mess. 

In spite of Eick^s alarm that thieves might 
have boarded the motor boat while they were 
on shore fighting the fire, nothing appeared to 
have been disturbed, and the travelers were 
soon resuming their interrupted sleep. 

The next morning saw them on their way 
again, and as they left the vicinity of the partly 
burned house Eick and Chot saw the two girls 
waving aprons at them from shore. 

‘‘I wonder if they^re saying good-bye to us 
or Esmerelda?’^ laughed Chot. 

‘‘To all of us, I reckon,’’ said Eick. “But 
say. Uncle Tod,” he went on, “how are you 
going to get this four legged chicken to Mr. 
Driscoll?” 

“Oh, I’ll drop him a line — I have his ad- 
dress — and if he wants it I can mail the freak 
hen to him parcel post. You can send almost 
anything by parcel post these days.” 


RICK IS WORRIED 


91 


‘^Supposing he doesn’t want it I” asked 
Chot 

‘‘Well, I think he will. But if he doesn’t I’ll 
keep it myself. I like animals, and maybe I’ll 
start a little side-show of my own. How would 
you like that, Rick?” he asked with a laugh. 

“Well, it would be fun for a while, hut this 
cruising life suits me,” said the boy. 

“Same here!” murmured Chot. “But if we 
should want to start a show we have the be- 
ginning — a dandy dog and a four legged hen.” 

The fowl was placed in an improvised coop 
on deck, and going ashore at the next town. 
Captain Tod bought some grain for her. He 
also sent a letter to Mr. Driscoll, telling him 
about the freak. 

For two days the Sallie cruised on up a 
broad river that connected with the bay on 
which Belemere was partly located. The des- 
tination of the voyagers was still many miles 
away, and the distance was not any too far for 
the boys. 

Indeed they so enjoyed the days on board 
the motor boat with Ruddy, Esmerelda and 
Captain Tod, that they would have been glad to 


92 


EICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


do nothing else lall summer but voyage in this 
fashion. As for the skipper he seemed to 
have no particular object in view, and was in 
no haste to get to Long River and his camp on 
shore. 

This lack 'of some definite object on the part 
of his uncle was somewhat of a puzzle to Rick. 
He thought a man as efficient as Mr. Todding- 
ham Belmont must have been, in order to get 
money enough to buy a motor boat and own a 
camp, ought to have more energy than was 
shown by the skipper. 

But the lazy, summer days appeared just to 
suit Uncle Tod, and he never seemed to be in 
any particular hurry. In spite of their firm 
determination not to pry into what did not 
concern them, Chot and Rick could not help 
wondering what was the nature of the spark- 
ling rocks they had seen the skipper looking at. 
But he never referred to them, though he did 
hint at some ‘‘big^^ thing that was going to 
happen when he reached his camp on Long 
River. 

‘‘Rick,^^ spoke Chot one day, when Uncle Tod 
had gone ashore, leaving the two boys in charge 
of the boat, ‘‘donT you think your uncle is a 


RICK IS WORRIED 


93 


bit more queer than when we first started?’^ 

‘‘How do you mean?^^ asked Rick. 
“QueerT’ 

“WeU, he talks to himself more than he did. 
And once I heard him saying ‘crazy is as crazy 
does.’ He said it more than once.” 

“He did?” 

“Sure he did! Didn’t you ever hear him 
say that?” 

“Yes, that’s one of the first things I ever 
heard him say,” Rick answered, recalling the 
strange meeting in the woods. “That is since 
I met him this time.” 

“What do you reckon he means, Rick?” 

“I don’t know. I guess he’s just odd, that’s 
aU.” 

Rick tried to get this out of his mind, but 
a question his uncle asked him that evening, 
when Chot had rowed ashore to get some bread 
that had been forgotten, gave the nephew some- 
thing to worry about. For, sitting out on the 
deck in the pleasant evening. Captain suddenly 
inquired : 

“Do you think I’m crazy, Rick?” 

The question was shot out so abruptly, and 
with such lack of connection with the previous 


94 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


talk, that Rick was at a loss for an answer. 
He did, however, manage to murmur: 

‘‘Why — no. Uncle Tod.^’ 

“Hum! Well, if I should start doing queer 
things — such as throwing Esmerelda overboard, 
or ramming the S alliens nose into a mud bank 
— what would you think thenU’ 

“Well, I reckon you’d have a reason for what 
you did.” 

“Good, Rick! That’s a fine answer. And 
I would have a reason ! ’ ’ exclaimed the skipper, 
so earnestly that Rick knew he was not joking. 
“I would have a reason! Crazy is as crazy 
does! I’d have a reason all right — and a good 
one. But here comes Chot. Don’t say any- 
thing to him about it — no matter what I do.” 

Before Rick could promise, Chot came row- 
ing up with the bread. But though he kept 
silent, when he turned in that night Rick had 
a worried feeling that he might awaken to hear 
Esmerelda ’s frightened squawks as she strug- 
gled in the water, or feel the jar of the Sallie 
as she rammed the bank. 


CHAPTER X 


AKMORED CRUISBES 

R IOK^iS fears, however, were unnecessary. 

Nothing unusual happened during the 
night, and when the morning sun roused them 
by shining in through the port holes they were 
also greeted by Ruddy’s cheerful bark, and by 
the excited cackling of Esmerelda in her coop 
on deck. 

Ruddy, are you bothering that four legged 
freak?” cried Rick, as he hastily dressed. 
‘‘Are you nipping Esmerelda?” 

“Don’t let anything like that happen!” 
shouted Captain Tod. “If Hokum Driscoll 
hears we let a four legged hen have two of her 
legs bitten off, he’ll never forgive us. Hurry, 
Rick!” 

Nothing like that was happening, however. 
Ruddy continued to bark, when Rick reached 
the deck, but it was only his way of exchanging 
compliments with a dog on shore. 

Esmerelda, though, kept up her cackling, and 
95 


96 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


when Rick went close to her coop to investi- 
gate he gave a cry of surprise. 

‘‘What^s the matter T’ called Chot, who was 
struggling to get into his trousers. 

^‘Esmerelda’s laid an eggl*^ answered Rick. 

^ ‘ She has ! ^ ^ exclaimed Captain Tod. ^ ‘ Don T 
let it get broken whatever happens. We’ll 
make an incubator and hatch out this egg. 
Maybe it will have a two headed chicken in it. 
Save that egg!” 

Which Rick did, managing to get it out of 
the coop after some little trouble, for Esmer- 
elda did not like being robbed, and she picked 
Rick severely trying to save her egg. But at 
last it was gotten out, and put in a secure 
place. 

‘‘I’ll make an incubator sometime to-day,” 
promised Captain Tod. 

“How you going to do it?” Chot asked. 

“Well you know all that makes eggs hatch is 
heat, say of about a hundred and one or a hun- 
dred and two degrees. When a hen begins to 
set nature starts a sort of fever in her blood to 
raise her temperature above normal. This 
heated condition lasts for three weeks or more, 
which is the time required for hatching chicken 


ARMORED CRUISERS 


97 


eggs. Besides heat, though, some moisture is 
needed, and the hen supplies this by going off 
the nest now and then and getting her feathers 
damp. 

‘‘Now a incubator is nothing more than a 
big hen. The heat is supplied by a kerosene 
lamp, or even by electricity. The moisture is 
supplied by a pan of water kept in the incuba- 
tor.’’ 

“But suppose the lamp gets too hot, or goes 
out, and the eggs get too cold?” asked Rick. 

“This sometimes happens,” answered Cap- 
tain Tod. “And when it does the prospective 
chickens are either roasted to death or chilled 
so they don’t hatch out. 

“This doesn’t happen if care is taken, how- 
ever, or in good incubators, for they are con- 
trolled by a thermostat, which, as you boys 
probably know, is something to regulate the 
heat. In most incubators there is a combina- 
tion of metals which easily expand, or swell up 
if they get too warm, and they shrink if they 
get too cold. 

“These metals, in the form of a thermostat, 
are placed is the incubator, and there is an 
electrical device, worked by a battery that opens 


98 


MQK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


or closes a damper in the egg-hatching ma- 
chine. If the incubator heat goes over about 
one hundred and three or four degrees 
the sensitive metal expands, makes the elec- 
trical contact, a magnet pulls open the damper 
and lets out the too-hot air until the incuba- 
tor cools down to the right temperature. Of 
course it may not work always, and that makes 
trouble.^’ 

‘‘Do you think you can make an incubator 
asked Eick. 

“I^m going to try,’’ promised his uncle. 
“I’ll go ashore at the first place I think likely 
will have what I want. But we’ll wait until 
Esmerelda lays a few more eggs, for we might 
as well put half a dozen in to hatch as one — so 
much the more chance of getting freak Chick- 
ens.” 

“Do you think you will!” Chot wanted to 
know. 

“You never can tell,” was the skipper’s 
answer. “As a rule, though, one freak at a 
time is about all that ever happens. But we ’ll 
give Esmerelda ’s eggs a chance.” 

The boys were interested in the prospect 
of hatching chickens aboard the Sallie. There 


ARMORED CRUISERS 


99 


was also much more to interest them, for they 
were journeying in a part of the country they 
had never before visited, cruising along a 
broad river which flowed from town to town 
and city to city. 

Pleasant as the voyage was, though, Eick 
could not shake ofi a sense of worry about his 
uncle, and this worry was shared, in lesser 
degree, by Chot. True there had been no more 
of that strange talk — ‘‘crazy is as crazy 
does’^ — ^nor had the lads again seen the cap- 
tain in the cabin gloating over glittering rocks. 

Then Eick made up his mind to a line of 
action. Without. telUng his chum anything 
about it, and of course without mentioning it 
to the skipper, Eick wrote to his mother the 
chief events that had happened since leaving 
Belemere. 

The boy told of his uncle’s actions, from the 
time he had met him in the woods, and had 
first heard the “crazy” talk, and the burden of 
his letter was to this effect: Was there ever 
any suspicion that Uncle Tod was ever insane, 
was there any insanity in his family, and, in 
case there was, what should Eick do ? He was 
not in the least afraid; he made this a strong 


100 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


point, for Uncle Tod was so kind and gentle, 
that it could hardly be believed that he would 
turn violent. So Eick did not even suggest 
that his father come on to look into matters. 
Much less did he so much as hint that the cruise 
had better end as far as Rick and Ruddy were 
concerned. He and Chot would not dream of 
leaving — they were having too much fun. 

So, having written his letter, giving it to 
Captain Tod to post, since the skipper was go- 
ing ashore to buy material for the incubator, 
Rick felt more at ease. 

‘‘Do you think Mr. Driscoll will want Esmer- 
elda soonT’ he asked his uncle, as the skipper 
was rowing off. “She’s getting to be quite 
a pet, and she lays every other day.” 

“We’ll keep her for a while, anyhow,” Cap- 
tain Tod decided. “Even if Driscoll wants her 
for his collection of freaks he will hardly be 
able to get her inside of two weeks. I haven ’t 
heard from him yet. I reckon he ’s cruising as 
we are.” 

Left to themselves on board the Sallie, the 
two boys and the dog, to say nothing of the 
four legged hen, prepared to enjoy the beauti- 
ful day. Captain Tod, who left just before 


ARMORED CRUISERS 101 

lunch, said he would not be back until nearly 
supper time. 

‘‘What do you say we go ashore T’ asked 
Chot, when they had gotten a meal for them- 
selves, and fed Ruddy and Esmerelda. 

“Let’s fish here on board for a while,” sug- 
gested Rick. “We haven’t caught anything 
w^orth cleaning lately, and this looks like a 
good place. Let’s fish!” 

‘ ‘ Suits me ! ” declared Chot. 

The motor boat was tied up near the shore, 
in the bend of the river where big trees leaned 
over the water forming a pleasant shade. There 
was a sort of eddy there, and the deep pool, 
so calm and quiet, seemed to offer an ideal 
place for lurking fish. 

The promise was home out, too, for the 
boys had no sooner baited their hooks and cast 
in than they began to get nibbles. From nib- 
bles to bites was but a short transition and 
Rick started the game going by hauling on deck 
a fine, flapping prize. 

“Now it’s your turn, Chot!” he cried, and 
Chot was not far in the rear of the race, landing 
a fish larger than his chum’s. 

It did not take long to catch as many fish as 


102 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


could well be used, and as there was no sense in 
catching a larger number just to make a record, 
lines were put away and the boys then cleaned 
their catch, putting them in the ice box, for this 
luxury was aboard the Sallie, 

‘‘Now that we have something special for 
supper, let^s go ashore and stretch our legs,’' 
proposed Chot again. 

“We mustn't go too far away," Rick decided. 
‘ ‘ Uncle Tod might not like us to leave the boat 
alone, for this isn't night, and somebody might 
sneak on board and pick up anything lying 
around loose." 

“I hope they don't take Esmerelda," 
laughed Chot. 

“Same here. And they can't take Ruddy, 
for you couldn't get him to stay on board when 
we're on shore, unless you chained him." 

As there was no intention of doing that. 
Ruddy was allowed to accompany the boys, 
much to his delight. A patch of woods ad- 
joined that part of the river where the Sallie 
was made fast, and the two chums, with their 
dog, were soon roaming in the forest. 

As usual Ruddy stirred up something that 
caused him to bark loudly. Hurrying up, to 


ARMORED CRUISERS 


103 


see what it was, and prepared to warn his 
pet back in case he had discovered a skunk, 
Rick saw a sight which made him fairly yell out. 

‘‘Oh, what monsters!’’ he shouted. “Chot! 
Come here ! Look ! Did you ever see such big 
ones ! ’ ’ 

“What are they — snakes f” cried Chot, crash- 
ing his way toward Rick and Ruddy. 

“No, not snakes. Armored cruisers I reckon 
Uncle Tod would call them. Look! Aren’t 
they whoppers! They’ll do for Mr. Driscoll’s 
freak show all right! If we can only get em!” 


CHAPTER XI 


THE BRASS BOUND BOX 



HOT was not yet near enough to get a 


view of what Ruddy had surprised in the 
under-brush — the objects that had caused Rick 
to exclaim so excitedly. 

^^What do you mean — armored cruisers!^’ 
asked Chot, as he broke through the last screen 
of underbrush between himself and his chum. 

^Hs there a gunboat out in the river 

‘‘No, this is on land!^’ laughed, Rick. “But 
they’re as safe from harm as though they were 
gunboats. Look ! ’ ’ 

He pointed to what Chot, at first, took to be 
a large stump, bristling with some black and 
white objects like pine needles. And then the 
“stump” iseemerd to move, as Ruddy nosed his 
way nearer it, and Rick called a warning to the 
dog. 

“ It ’s alive ! ’ ’ cried Chot. ‘ ‘ What is it ? ” 

“Armored cruisers I tell you!” answered 
Rick. “Don’t touch ’em unless you want to 


104 


THE BRASS BOUND BOX 


105 


get a worse sore hand than the time you got 
caught on a fish hook.” 

‘‘Why, there ^s two of ’em!” exclaimed Chot, 
as what he at first believed to be a bristling 
stump turned out to be two grotesque animals, 
with heavy, squatty bodies and short club-like 
tails. ‘ ‘ Why, they ’re porcupines — ^hedgehogs ! ’ ’ 
he added. 

‘‘Porcupines, yes, but not hedgehogs,” an- 
swered, Eick. “There aren’t any true hedge- 
hogs in this country. They are mainly in 
England and Europe.” 

♦‘I always thought hedgehogs and porcupines 
were the same, ’ ’ went on Chot. 

“Well, they aren’t,” answered Eick. “Though 
the only reason I know is because I happened 
to read about them in a book one day after 
Buddy chased a porcupine in our woods. But 
say these are monsters — the largest I ever 
saw.” 

“How’d you happen to spot ’em?” Chot 
wanted to know. 

“Oh, they were cruising about and Buddy 
nosed ’em out. He’d have nipped onei if I 
hadn’t stopped him.” 

“They’d ^a’ shot their quills into him if he 


106 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


had,’’ observed Chot, as he continued to gaze 
at the two big porcupines which were coiled 
up into round, bristling balls near the stump, 
for which Rick’s chum had at first taken them 
to he a part. 

‘‘That’s another wrong idea,” went on Rick. 
“Porcupines can’t ‘shoot’ their quills.” 

“They can’t!” cried Chot. “Sure they 
can!” 

“No,” Rick insisted. “But never mind 
about that now. The thing is can we get these 
two into a box, or something, and take ’em on 
board the SalUe. They’ll do fine, with the four 
legged hen, to put in Mr. Driscoll’s freak show. 
He’ll pay us a good price for these armored 
cruisers, Chot.” 

“Will he? That’ll be great! But what 
makes you call ’em armored cruisers?” 

“Oh, well, a porcupine always sort of cruises 
along slow and easy like. He knows he can’t 
run fast enough to get away, and all he can de- 
pend on are his spines, so he takes it easy. 
And they sure are armoned if ever an animal 
was. Look at those quills, Chot!” 

Indeed, rolled into balls as they were, the two 
unusually large porcupines presented nothing 


THE BRA^ BOUND BOX 


107 


but a sharp and bristling pointed surface on all 
sides. Their heads seemed to be among their 
four feet and their tails were coiled around 
them, though as Ruddy once approached too 
close the smaller of the two porcupines swung 
out the club-like tail viciously. 

‘‘There!’’ cried Rick. “That’s one of the 
ways they defend themselves, with their tail. 
And the spines on that, as well as on the other 
parts of their body, are so loose in the sMn 
that the stickers come out; and they’re like 
Indian arrows for getting into a dog or any 
other animal. The quills have barbs on ’em 
like fish hooks.” 

“I always thought they could throw their 
quills — shoot ’em ten or fifteen feet,” mur- 
mured Chot. “But, as you say, Rick, it would 
be a good thing if we could catch these fellows. 
Maybe we could get some money for ’em from 
Mr. Driscoll. But how?” 

‘ Well,” remarked Chot, “they are lazy sort 
of animals. They don’t believe in hurrying. 
They’re like skunks that way. These will stay 
around here for some time. We could go on 
board and get a box to keep ’em in.” 

“I’ll tell you what we can do,” put in Chot. 


108 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘You stay here with Ruddy and watch the 
porcupines. I’ll go on board and look for a 
box. Though how we’re going to get ’em in 
it I don’t know.” 

“Oh, I guess we can poke ’em in with sticks 
without hurting ’em much,” suggested Rick. 
“Go ahead and get the box. I’ll stay here.” 

Off through the bushes crashed Chot again, 
after pausing to give another look at the two 
big porcupines, which still kept to their ball 
formation, presenting a bristling front, so to 
speak. 

As Chot reached the Sallie he saw Uncle Tod 
returning from his journey to the viBage. The 
captain seemed to have completed his errands 
sooner than he had expected. 

“Where’s Rick?” he asked of Chot. 

‘ ‘ Off in the woods. He ’s got two monster por- 
cupines. We’re going to sell ’em to Mr. Dris- 
coll for his freak show. I came to get a box.” 

“Porcupines; eh?” exclaimed the skipper. 
“You want to be careful how you handle them. 
In fact you don’t want to handle them at all. 
I guess I’d better go with you. We’ll each 
take a box, these wiU do very well,” and he 


THE BRASS BOUND BOX 


109 


brought out some wooden ones that had held 
groceries and supplies. 

Rick and Ruddy were still on guard when 
Chot and Captain Tod reached the lair of the 
porcupines in the woods, and neither rodent 
had moved much from the positions they took 
after the first alarm. 

‘‘Now wait a minute and I think we can get 
them into the boxes without exciting them too 
much, ’ ’ said Uncle Tod. 

“Howr^ asked Rick. 

“With salt. Porcupines are very fond of 
salt — ^more so than many other animals that 
care a lot for it. I brought some salt with me, ^ ’ 
the skipper said. 

Taking some of the white crystals from his 
pocket, Uncle Tod sprinkled it on the ground 
near the porcupines, which were still coiled. 
In a moment or two, however, they thrust out 
their black noses and began licking up what to 
them was a great dainty. 

“Now we’ll make a thin trail of salt into each 
box,” planned Captain Tod, “and we’ll capture 
them without any trouble.” 

Each box was provided with a cover, and 


110 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


when the cases had been set down, a little dis- 
tance apart, with a trail of salt leading from 
the porcupines into each improvised trap, the 
two boys and the skipper drew back to await 
developments. Ruddy had by this time given 
up interest in the porcupines. Perhaps he may 
have slightly pricked his nose on some of their 
quills, though if he had pressed too hard against 
one it would have entered his skin, the barbed 
point, like that of a fish hook, preventing it 
coming out again. At any rate the dog lay 
down quietly, waiting Rick^s pleasure. 

As for ithe porcupines they showed much 
more interest in life since tasting the salt. 
They ate their way along the trail where the 
white particles were scattered on the leaves, 
and when they reached the boxes, where little 
mounds of salt were arranged they climbed in 
and kept on eating. 

‘‘Clap on the cover cried Captain Tod to 
Rick, suiting his own action to those words. 
In a moment the two big porcupines were 
caught. 

^‘And they surely are big!’^ exclaimed the 
skipper, peering through the cracks. “I never 
saw any larger in this country, though in Africa 


THE BRASS BOUND BOX 


111 


they grow much heavier, and some have quills, 
or spines, a foot long.’’ 

^‘How longure these?” asked Chot. 

‘‘Oh, about four inches, I should say. Here 
are some that dropped out,” and he picked a 
few from the ground. “But don’t try to stick 
yourselves with them,” warned Uncle Tod. 
“They’re as bad as fish hooks!” 

“Funny thing ‘they can’t shoot ’em,” ob- 
served Chot, as they started back toward the 
Sallie, carrying the boxes. “I always thought 
they could.” 

“Many persons do,” said Captain Tod. 
“And more persons wrongly call these animals 
hedgehogs. A hedgehog, while it has spines, 
something like those of a porcupine, is quite a 
different animal. A hedgehog eats worms and 
grubs, and a porcupine lives almost entirely on 
roots, bark and berries. I won’t say they 
wouldn’t eat flesh if driven to it by hunger, but 
they are rodents, like rats and mice, and not 
flesh-eaters. These are two of the finest speci- 
mens I have ever seen in this country. Dris- 
coll ought to be glad to get them.” 

“They won’t stand for much petting,” said 
Rick with a chuckle. 


112 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘No, indeed,’^ agreed his uncle. “While 
sometimes the mountain-lion, lynx and the fisher 
or pekan kill and eat porcupines, and though 
even an eagle or the great horned owl has 
been known to get away with these spiny ro- 
dents, still it is the exception rather than the 
rule. And I have seen mountain-lions that 
have died from attacking porcupines.’^ 

“How?” asked both boys at once. 

“Well, their heads and bodies were one mass 
of quills, that had stuck in them when they got 
too near the porcupine. As the quills are 
barbed they won’t drop out, and when a moun- 
tain-lion is fairly bristling with them, his 
tongue a regular pin cushion, he can’t eat or 
drink and he dies from starvation or from pain 
and exhaustion. The Indians formerly used 
the quills, colored in bright hues, to decorate 
their garments. And a porcupine is mighty 
good eating — after he’s skinned,” concluded 
Uucle Tod, with a chuckle. 

“He provides his own toothpicks,” added 
Rick with a laugh. 

“That’s right,” agreed Chot. “But we 
won’t eat these. They’re worth more as freaks 
than roasted.” 


THE BRASS BOUND BOX 


113 


shotild say so,” added the skipper. 
must write to Mr. Driscoll again.” 

‘‘Esmerelda has laid another egg,” reported 
Chot, when they were once more on board the 
Sallie, and the boxes of porcupines had been 
put in a safe place. 

‘‘She’s sure a busy little hen !” said the skip- 
per. “Don’t break it taking it out, Chot,” he 
added, a^ the boy went to where the freak 
chicken had her coop. 

“When you going to start that incubator?” 
asked Rick. 

“To-morrow,” his uncle answered. “I have 
most of the things I need, now. We’ll start 
work on the incubator to-morrow.” 

This was good news to the boys, who were 
anxious to see if any freak little chickens 
would be hatched from the eggs Esmerelda had 
laid. 

^ “Oh ho! Fish for supper!” exclaimed the 
captain, when the boys brought from the ice 
box those they had caught. “You certainly 
have put in a full day!” 

After the meal, “which was enjoyed by all,” 
as a country paper might phrase it, the por- 
cupines were transferred to stronger boxes and 


114 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


left up on deck near the coop of Esmerelda and 
then, as the boat was in a good location, it was 
decided to remain there for the night. 

Rick and Chot sat up on deck, talking in the 
moonlight, while Captain Tod was busy in the 
cabin below. He seemed to be hammering on 
something and Rick thought he was working 
on the incubator until, happening to get up for 
a drink of water he had a glimpse, through an 
open port, of a strange scene. 

Captain Tod had on the table in front of him 
a strong brass bound box, and in it he was put- 
ting some papers and some of those shining 
rocks, which Rick and Chot had thought might 
contain gold or diamonds, though the latter 
theory was rather a weak one, as both lads ad- 
mitted. 

But there was no question about the brass 
bound box. Like some small, ancient treasure 
chest it was, the lid thrown back, and the lock 
on the table beside the captain. 

Some slight noise that Rick made caused the 
skipper to look up. He did not seem at all put 
out by being observed, instead, he called, in a 
most casual voice, for Rick to come to the 
cabin. 



“Like some small, ancient treasure chest it was. 





THE BRASS BOUND BOX 


115 


‘‘And bring Chot with you,’’ added the skip- 
per. 

The boys entered to find him just locking the 
brass bound box, and pointing to it Captain 
Tod said: 

“If anything happens to me, or the Sallie, 
see that this box gets safe to shore, and into 
your father’s hands, Rick. It is very val- 
uable!” 


CHAPTEE Xn 


FILLED WITH SUEPRISB 

F oe a moment both boys were so surprised 
at this sudden act of confidence in them, 
on the part of the skipper, that they could say 
nothing. Euddy, too, seemed to know that 
something unusual was in the air, as he stood in 
the little cabin, his head on one side, looking at 
the brass bound box as he always did at some 
object new to him. 

‘‘Take it ashore with you if anything hap- 
pens, ’ ’ went on Uncle Tod, tapping the strongly- 
made little chest, which was about a foot square, 
and about six inches deep. “It has valuables 
in it.’’ 

“Gold?” ventured Eick, after a moment’s 
silence. 

“Oh, no, not gold!” chuckled the skipper. 
“Diamonds,” whispered Chot. 

“Diamonds! I should say not; though it 
does sparkle!” tantalizingly admitted the cap- 
tain. 


116 


FILLED WITH SURPRISE 117 

Don’t try to guess, boys, you couldn’t in a 
hundred years, I don’t believe,” went on Uncle 
Tod. ‘‘Though the stuff in here is as common 
as dirt in some places.” 

Rick and Chot wondered, in that case, why 
the contents of the brass bound box were so val- 
uable. But they did not think it wise to press 
any more questions. Uncle Tod had locked the 
strong little chest, and now he put it in a small 
locker where he kept his other possessions. 

“I’ll hide the key of the locker here,” he 
went on, indicating a little nook in the cabin. 
“And don’t forget — ^if anything happens — ^just 
take the brass bound box and cut ashore. Now 
we’ll tackle the incubator.” 

“I thought you weren’t going to start that 
until to-morrow,” observed Rick. 

“Well, we might as well plan it now, and then 
we can work so much faster. It’s a good thing 
to lay out the next day’s work the night be- 
fore. Come over here and I’ll show you what 
I intend doing.” 

The captain appeared to be a sort of Jack at 
all trades, for in a short time he had sketched 
out a small incubator which, while it was rather 
crude, seemed fitted to do the work of hatching 


118 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


out what few eggs Esmerelda would be ex- 
pected to lay. 

‘‘The question is/^ said Rick, as they were 
getting ready to turn in for the night, the incu- 
bator plans having been finished, ‘ ‘ the question 
is will any queer chickens come out of Esmer- 
elda’s eggs?^^ 

“It^s a question that can^t be answered inside 
of three weeks, laughed the skipper. 

The next day, instead of continuing the 
cruise, it was decided to remain at “Porcupine 
Cove , ' ^ as Rick named the place where the big, 
spiny rodents had been captured. 

The black and white creatures seemed to be 
quite contented in tbeir new homes. Captain 
Tod knew with what kind of vegetable food to 
supply them, and it was brought from ashore 
fresh every day. The porcupines became quite 
friendly, though it can not exactly be said that 
they were “pets.’’ No one could pat them, 
for their quills came out very easily. 

‘'We might just as well stay here until we 
finish the incubator,” decided Captain Tod. 
“I’m in no hurry to get to my camp at Long 
River, and if I fin.d I need something for the 


FILLED WITH SURPRISE 119 

egg-hatching machine I can just walk into town 
and buy it.’^ 

This sort of life just suited the boys. The 
weather was more glorious than when they 
had started and they could go swimming and 
fishing when they pleased. On board the Sallie 
it was like living in a moving camp, with many 
more advantages than are found in some wood- 
land stopping places. 

It was not quite as easy to start the incuba- 
tor working as even optimistic Captain Tod had 
supposed. The chief trouble was getting the 
heat regulated so that it would keep between 
about 101 and 102 degrees, with the cooling 
damper opening when the heat touched around 
103. But finally, after repeated tests with a 
thermometer. Captain Tod announced that he 
was now ready to make a trial of Esmerelda’s 
eggs. 

‘‘How many have weT^ he asked the boys. 

They were brought from the pantry, where 
they had been carefully kept in a box, wrapped 
in tissue paper. 

“Five,” announced Rick. 

“Hum!” murmured the captain. “We 


120 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


ought to have six, at least, to start with. Of 
course it doesn’t make any difference to the 
incubator how many eggs you stock it with. 
But IVe made places for half a dozen eggs in 
this one, and it’s a pity to start with five.” 

‘‘Hark!” exclaimed Chot. “I think I hear 
her cackling now. Maybe she’s just laid an 
egg.” 

He rushed out on deck, to return a few mo- 
ments later with a dejected air, but no egg. 

“False alarm!” Chot sadly reported. 

‘ ‘ Too bad ! ’ ’ exclaimed the skipper. ‘ ‘ I hope 
Esmerelda isn’t going to turn out to be that sort 
of unreliable hen. Even having four legs won’t 
excuse her for giving an egg alarm and then 
fading, ’ ’ said the skipper with a laugh. ‘ ‘ W ell, 
we’ll wait a day or so longer and if she doesn’t 
lay another egg we’ll start the incubator with 
five. But mind you,” he said to the expectant 
boys, “the chances are very much against any 
freak chickens being hatched, out ! ’ ’ 

“Oh, we’re prepared for that,” admitted 
Rick. “Anyhow we have Esmerelda herself 
for Mr. Driscoll, and the big porcupines.” 

“Yes, they’ll be a good start for his freak 
show, with that triple clam he has,” said the 


FILLED WITH SURPRISE 


121 


skipper. ‘‘I expect to hear from him in a day 
or so. But we won^t tell him about the incu- 
bator lest he place his expectations too high and 
become disappointed after the hatching. We ^11 
keep that as a surprise, in case it turns out 
that way.’’ 

The incubator having been finished, though 
the skipper admitted it would be all the better 
for a longer testing, and there being no fur- 
ther excuse for remaining at Porcupine Cove, 
the S alliens mooring lines were cast off and the 
cruise resumed. 

For three days they chugged their way up 
the big river, their next destination being a 
lake, from which they would emerge into an- 
other river and then into the stream on the 
shore of which the skipper had his camp. 

And each day an anxious watch was kept 
over Esmerelda. Every time she cackled, or 
showed any unusual activity, there was a rush 
to her coop, to see if she had laid the sixth egg. 
But each time her cackling and clucking were 
only false alarms. 

‘‘I think Esmerelda believes she has done her 
full duty in the matter of laying eggs,” said 
Captain Tod one night, “and we shall have to 


122 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


content ourselves with five. If by to-morrow, 
she doesn’t lay one to complete the half dozen, 
I’ll start the incubator.” 

There were indications of a storm as the 
Sallie was made fast to a big overhanging tree 
on shore, and preparations made to pass the 
night thus anchored. . But as the craft was a 
staunch one, and not out in the open sea, in 
fact being well sheltered where she was, the 
approaching outburst of the elements was not 
looked forward to with any alarm by the voy- 
agers. 

Ruddy had curled up in his accustomed place 
on deck, under the shelter of the rail, and as 
the cabin door was left open Rick knew, that 
in case of rain, his dog would come in. No 
watch was set and soon all on board the Sallie 
were slumbering, even Esmerelda and the por- 
cupines in their boxes on deck. 

For some reason or other, Rick awakened 
soon, after falling into a doze. What disturbed 
his sleep he did not know, for it was quiet 
enough in the night that enshrouded the craft 
and its occupants. The wind was sighing and 
moaning, however, seeming to whisper of the 
coming storm, and the waves were slapping the 


FILLED WITH SURPRISE 123 

sides of the Sallie as though inviting her to 
cast off her mooring lines and come out into 
mid-stream to play. 

Eick turned over, and tried to compose him- 
self to sleep, hut it appeared to be of little use. 

“If it would only rain,’’ he thought, “I’d 
drop off in a minute. Nothing makes me sleep- 
ier than to hear it rain.” 

But the breaking of the storm was delayed, 
and, if you have ever noticed it, on such occa- 
sions nature itself appears to be as nervous, and 
under as tense strain, as some individuals. It 
was like this in Eick’s case. 

“Well, I’m going up on deck and sit for a 
while,” he told himself. “That will quiet me 
down.” 

He slipped from his berth without rousing 
Uncle Tod or Chot. They seemed to he slum- 
bering heavily. Eick had just reached the 
open cabin door, and was about to mount the 
companionway steps when he heard a thud on 
deck which seemed to indicate that some one, 
in bare feet or wearing rubber soled shoes, had 
dropped dowit from a little height. At the 
same time Euddy gave a low growl. 

Immediately a cautious voice whispered ; 


124 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘All right old fellow! Don’t make a fuss! 
WeTl be friends!” 

Then came the sound of Ruddy’s tail pound- 
ing a welcome greeting as he thumped the deck 
with it. 

That is one fault of setter dogs — they make 
friends too easily. They are so unsuspicious 
and loving that they are easily deceived, and 
are, therefore, of little value as watch dogs. 
A burglar or thief, in. most instances, can im- 
mediately make friends with a setter, who soon 
welcomes him as one of the family. 

And when Rick heard a strange voice talk- 
ing to his pet, and when the lad had listened to 
the thumping of the tail, Rick knew, as well 
as if he had seen him, that some stranger had 
boarded the Sallie and was then patting Ruddy. 

The moon was shining fitfully from behind 
ragged clouds, and by the dim light Rick could 
see, standing near his dog, the figure of a man — 
a stranger as far as the boy could judge. 

And now, cordial relations having been es- 
tablished with Ruddy, the night visitor pro- 
ceeded to look about, evidently in search of 
something of value. There had been, no trouble 
in boarding the Sallie, for her rail was close 


FILLED WITH SURPRISE 


125 


to the sloping shore. And it was the thud of 
the man’s feet as he leaped down to deck that 
Hick had heard. 

Waiting a moment before giving the alarm, 
Eick saw the intruder walk softly toward the 
boxes containing the big porcupines. 

^‘If he sticks his hands in there,” said Rick 
softly to himself, barely restraining a chuckle, 
‘‘I won’t have to say a word!” 

And this is just what happened. The boxes 
which formed pens for the porcupines had cov- 
ers that could be unhooked and lifted off. In 
the dim light of the moon the man could not 
tell what the boxes contained, so he raised one 
cover and thrust in his bare hand. 

A moment later an agonized howl broke the 
silence of the night, and as Ruddy gave a bark 
of surprise the visitor, with another howl of 
pain, leaped overboard. 

^‘What’s the matter?” cried Captain Tod, 
suddenly rousing up. 

‘‘Anybody hurt?” Chot wanted to know. 

“Yes, a little!” laughed Rick. “And yet 
I guess he’s as surprised as he is hurt.” 

“Surprised!” repeated the skipper, coming 
on deck. “Who is surprised?” 


126 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


^‘That thief, and Rick pointed to a distant, 
swimming figure in the stream. ‘‘He must 
have one hand just about filled with surprises — 
porcupine quill surprises!’^ 


CHAPTER XIII 


QUEER ACTIONS 

F or a moment Captain Tod debated with 
himself whether to take after the midnight 
visitor, to hail him, perhaps firing a shot to 
scare him into surrender, or to let him go. 

‘‘Did he get anything?^’ the skipper asked 
Rick. 

“I think not,^’ the boy answered. “At least 
nothing more than the porcupine quills, and 
wedl never miss those, nor will the porcupines 
either. I couldn’t sleep, and I was coming out 
on deck to get a breath of air, and watch the 
storm blowing up, when I heard this fellow 
jump down on the deck.” 

“Didn’t Ruddy go for him?” asked Chot. 
“No, that’s the trouble with my dog — he’s 
too friendly.” Rick answered. “This fellow 
made up to Ruddy right off.” 

“What happened then?” asked Captain Tod. 
“Well, he walked around the deck, saw the 
127 


128 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


porcupine boxes, opened one and then he let 
out a yell.’^ 

guess there ^s no use stopping him,’’ de- 
cided the skipper. “He is well enough pun- 
ished. He won’t come aboard the Sallie 
again.” 

And indeed it would have been a hard matter 
to locate the fleeing would-be thief now, for the 
darkness had enshrouded him as he swam 
across the river. He gave no further cries, 
though to use his hand in swimming, punctured 
as it was with porcupine quills, must have 
been very painful. 

“Look! There’s Tweedledum getting out!” 
exclaimed Chot, for the porcupines had been 
temporarily named after those famous char- 
acters — Tweedledum and Tweedledee, since 
they looked very much alike. 

“None of that!” cried Rick, as he used a 
stick gently to urge the porcupine back into the 
box, the cover of which had been left unhooked 
by the midnight visitor. 

The spiny freak secured, and a casual look 
around disclosing nothing disturbed, the voy- 
agers went back to bed. >Soon, after this the 


QUEER ACTIONS 129 

rain began failing, and Rick fell with it — 
asleep. 

f‘No egg yet,’’ reported Chot next day, after 
a visit to Esmerelda’s coop, following a pro- 
longed period of excited cackling on the hen’s 
part. 

‘‘Well, we won’t wait any longer for her,” 
decided Captain Tod. “Maybe the water isn’t 
good for her, though she laid five while we 
have been afloat. Anyhow I’ll start the incu- 
bator and we’ll see if we can get any more 
freak chickens for friend Driscoll.” 

There being no special reason for traveling 
on in the storm, and as the skipper wanted to 
make sure he needed nothing further to make 
the incubator mechanically perfect, it was de- 
cided to remain another day and night at Por- 
cupine Cove. 

It stormed all that night, the rattle of rain 
on the deck soothed the two boys to sound 
slumber, but it seemed to have the opposite 
effect on the skipper. Rick was dimly con- 
scious tha1| his uncle was roving about the 
craft practically all night long. In the morn- 
ing Captain Tod explained that he was up. 


ISO RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 

‘‘off and on,’^ as he expressed it, to make sure 
the incubator was operating properly. 

‘'And was itT’ Chot asked when they were 
eating breakfast. 

“Seems to be. Of course, being a home- 
made one, it will need more attention 
than a regular machine. But I think it will 
hatch out Esmerelda’s eggs,’^ the skipper an- 
swered. 

The four legged chicken herself seemed to 
be in good health, and two days after the in- 
cubator had been, operating she laid another 

egg. 

“If that isnT just like a woman laughed 
Captain Tod. “She never does a thing when 
you want her to!^^ 

“Can you put this egg in with the others?’’ 
asked Rick. 

“Well, of course we could, for an incubator 
isn.’t like a hen, it won’t leave the eggs after 
it has hatched out some and thinks it has 
warmed the others long enough. That’s the 
reason you have to put what eggs you want 
to hatch under a hen all at one time,” said the 
skipper. “But I don’t want to open the ma- 
chine now, to slip this one in. We’ll just do 


QUEER ACTIONS 


131 


with the five, and have this egg to eat. Well 
draw lots for it.’’ 

Luck fell to Rick, and when the egg was 
cooked it proved to have two yolks. 

Maybe two chickens would have come out!” 
exclaimed Chot. 

‘‘I don’t believe so,” said Captain Tod. 
”I’ve seen many a double yolked egg, but never 
two chickens coming out of the same shell — 
though I won’t say it is impossible.” 

Following* her post-incubator performance, 
Esmerelda laid an egg every day for the suc- 
ceeding two, so that the skipper and Chot each 
had 'one. But the yolks were only single. 

Now that the incubator experiment was under 
way, and nothing could be told of the success, 
or non-success, under* three weeks, the boys 
sought for new forms of interest and amuse- 
ment. Nor were these difficult to find. For 
they were traveling bn,, up streams they had 
never before visited, and they passed through 
towns and cities of which they had heard, but 
which they had never seen. So there were 
plenty of sights to occupy their attention. 

At one place where they stopped a letter 
from Hokum Driscoll awaited them. In it the 


132 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


former circus man expressed delight at the 
freak chicken which had been bought for him, 
and he promised to take it off the skipper’s 
hands at the same price paid for it. 

‘‘Pick up any more freaks for me that you 
see,” wrote Mr. Driscoll. “I’ll meet you 
soon,” and he named a town some miles dis- 
tant, which he could reach in his motor boat 
by taking a different route from that followed 
by our friends. 

“I wonder how he’ll like the porcupines?” 
mused Chot. 

“And the freak chickens, if any hatch from 
Esmerelda’s eggs?” added Eick. “But I’m 
not counting on. them.” 

“No, it isn’t wise to count one’s chickens 
before^ they are hatched,” chuckled Captain 
Tod. 

Eick wondered why he had not received an 
answer to the letter he wrote his mother, speak- 
ing of the strange actions of Captain Tod, but 
the boy concluded she either had not received 
it yet, or else had written her answer to some 
other post office where they planned to stop 
for their mail. 


QUEER ACTIONS 


133 


As for the skipper, following the putting 
away of the brass bound box, his conduct had 
not been such as to cause Chot or Eick any 
worry. About the only thing he did that was 
unusual was to talk to himself, and this would 
not have caused any uneasiness on Eick^s part 
had it not been that his relative so often mur- 
mured : 

Crazy is as crazy does. Ill be crazy 
enough when I see him!’^ 

Eick very much wanted to know what this 
meant, but he did not feel like asking. And 
Captain Tod might not like it — he might think 
Eick had no right to ask such questions. Thus 
the cruise, that was so filled with delight, noiight 
be brought to a sudden end. 

Eick did not want that to happen. 

One day, however, after they had chugged 
their way up the river for several miles, and 
had made fast to the bank for the night, some- 
thing happened which again aroused all Eick^s 
fears. 

His uncle had gone ashore to the not far 
distant village, Chot was fishing in a quiet pool 
some yards below where the Sallie was made 


134 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


fast, and Eick and Ruddy were sitting on deck 
when the skipper suddenly came on board, 
having returned from the village. 

think this will help turn, the trick, said 
the captain. 

He began taking the paper from a bundle he 
had brought with him from the village. Rick 
caught a curious hollow, booming sound as the 
wrapping was removed, and then, to his sur- 
prise, he saw his uncle holding up a child’s 
drum. 

'‘What would you say if I began to beat 
this ? ’ ’ asked the skipper with a chuckle. 

“What would I say?” repeated Rick, at a 
loss for the right words in which to reply. 

“Yes, suppose I started drumming?” 

“Well, replied the boy slowly, “I should — ” 

“You’d think I was crazy; wouldn’t you?” 
interrupted the captain. 

“Maybe not exactly crazy. Uncle Tod, but — ” 

“Yes, anybody would say I was crazy if, at 
my age, I started to learn to play the drum. 
But that’s what I’m going to do!” he declared. 
“I’ve always wanted to, and I don’t see any 
reason why I shouldn’t, even if I am past 


QUEER ACTIONS 


135 


sixty! I’m going to learn the drum — Oh, not 
now!” he hastily added, as he saw a strange 
look on Rick’s face. ‘^It’s too near night, and 
I might surprise some folks on shore and wake 
up some babies,” he added with a laugh. “I 
wouldn’t want to do that. But I’m going to 
drum — say to-morrow!” 

He tapped the skin head of the instrument 
lightly with his fingers. Chot, fishing down 
stream, heard the booming sound and looked 
up toward the Sallie in some surprise. 

^‘Chot, what do you make of it?” asked Rick 
that evening after the supper things had been 
cleared away, and when the chums were strol- 
ling along shore, while Captain Tod sat on deck, 
gazing across the water. ‘‘What do you make 
of that drum business?” 

“I don’t know, Rick,” was the answer. “If 
I were you I’d write home and tell them about 
it. It looks mighty queer to me.” 

“To me, too! I wonder — ” 

But at that instant there came a shout from 
the boat, and they heard Captain Tod crying: 

“No you don’t! None of that! Get back 
where you belong!” 


136 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Ruddy barked excitedly as he dashed away 
from the boys and in the direction of the craft, 
on the deck of which the captain could dimly be 
seen, dancing about in an excited manner. 


CHAPTER XIV; 


DISAPPOINTMENT 

R ice and Chot paused for a moment to 
gaze at one another before dashing off 
after the dog toward the boat. The same 
thought was in the -minds of both lads — that 
Captain Tod had suddenly taken leave of his 
senses. 

‘Ht^s that drum!’’ declared Chot. ‘‘He’s 
trying to do one of those war, or green corn 
dances he says the Indians do up on the state 
reservation near his Long River camp. ’ ’ 

“But he isn’t drumming!” objected Rick, as 
they started on a run toward the Sallie. “If 
he was — well — queer enough to try to imitate 
an Indian dance, he’d be drumming; wouldn’t 
he?” 

“I don’t know,” answered Chot. “Listen 
to him, will you!” 

Again the captain was shouting, and he could 
still be seen dancing excitedly about, for it was 
not yet dark, though night was fast coming. 

137 


138 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Across the short distance that now separated 
the boys from him, could be heard the skipper’s 
voice crying: 

‘‘Get back in there! Think I’m going to 
have you jump overboard after all the trouble 
we had! Get back in, your coop!” 

Esmerelda’s out!” exclaimed Chot, making 
a wild guess at the cause of the trouble. 

“Can’t be that,” asserted Rick. ^‘She often 
comes out on deck.” 

“Then some of the little chickens are 
hatched!” ventured Chot, and they’re trying 
to run away on their five or six legs — ^whatever 
they’ve got.” 

“ ’Tisn’t time for the eggs to hatch, said 
Rick. “It must be — ” 

But just then Captain Tod looked up, saw 
the boys, and, waving his arms at them, he 
cried: 

“Hurry up! Both the porcupines are out 
and they’re going separate ways! I need 
help!” 

“Porcupines!” gasped Chot. 

“That explains it,” added Rick. And yet 
he could not help remembering, as he and his 
chum raced on to the help of the skipper, the 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


139 


drum Uncle Tod had purchased. What in the 
world did he want of a drum? This was one 
of the things Kick wondered about. And what 
did that talk of his uncle mean — ^that talk of 
‘‘crazy is as crazy does?^’ Also why didn^t 
Rick’s folks answer his letter, letting him know 
if there had ever been any insanity in the cap- 
tain’s family? 

These thoughts flashed through the boy’s 
mind rapidly, as he and Chot made all speed 
possible back to the Sallie. Once there they had 
no time for thinking of anything but the im- 
mediate business in hand — ^that of getting the 
spiny porcupines back into their boxes. 

For both of the creatures that would not 
bear handling had escaped at the same time. 

“You head ’em back from climbing over the 
rail, and I’ll get some salt to entice ’em back 
in their boxes !” ordered the skipper as the boys 
leaped aboard. 

“How’d they get out?” asked Kick, as he 
headed off the largest porcupine, while Chot 
got in front of the other. 

“Don’t know”’ answered the captain as he 
made a dive for the cabin, to reappear a mo- 
ment later with a handful of salt. “They must 


140 


EICK AND EUDDY AFLOAT 


have loosened the hooks, or maybe Ruddy was 
playing with the fastenings and slipped them. 
First I knew they were out. I felt a prickling 
down near my ankles as I sat on deck, and there 
was one of the porkies trying to rub against 
me like a jolly old cat. Easy now and we’ll 
have ’em safe!” 

The former trick of the salt worked well, 
and when a trail of it had been sprinkled along 
the deck, toward the respective cages of the 
spiny creatures, they were soon corraled in 
their boxes, and the lids made doubly fast. 

^‘It’s remarkable how fond porcupines are of 
salt,” said the skipper, sitting down and mop- 
ping his face, for the night was warm and he had 
moved about in lively fashion. ‘ ^ Out west I ’ve 
known ’em to hang around camp and gnaw up 
boards in a tent flooring just to get at the salt 
that had been spilled there.” 

‘^It’s a good thing you knew how to catch 
’em,” observed Chot. 

‘‘Yes,” agreed Rick. “It would be too bad 
if they got away when Mr. Driscoll wants them 
for his freak show. When’s he going to take 
them. Uncle Tod?” 

“Well, I expect we’ll meet him in about a 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


141 


week now,^^ was the answer. ‘^And maybe, 
by that time, well have some other specimens 
for him.^’ 

*‘Some of Esmerelda’s chickens r’ inquired 
Chot. 

‘‘Hardly any of them under two weeks,” 
answered the skipper. “TheyVe been in the 
incubator about a week now. And that re- 
minds me, I must take a look at the machine.” 

The egg-hatching affair was kept in a com- 
partment forward of the cabin, and while Uncle 
Tod had gone there to take an inspection the 
boys remained on deck. Rick gazed at 'the 
drum the skipper had purchased, and again 
disquieting questions came into the lad’s mind. 

“You don’t s’pose he did it on purpose; do 
you?” asked Chot. 

“Did what on purpose?” 

“Let those porcupines out.” 

“Why no, I don’t,” Rick answered. “What 
makes you think such a thing?” 

“Well, he’s acting so queer, and — ” 

“Yes, he does act queer,” Rick admitted, 
‘ ‘ but I don ’t believe he ’d do that. Those spines 
would make a nasty sore if they got in a fel- 
low.” 


142 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘I believe yau. And yet it doesn’t seem 
they could get out themselves. ” 

‘‘They won’t any more!” declared Eick. 
“I’m going to make new covers for the cages 
to-morrow.” 

The night passed quietly enough, though 
it must be said that Eick did not sleep well. He 
was too worried about many matters, and he 
could not get out of his mind the spectaicle 
of his rather elderly uncle beating a child’s 
drum. 

However when morning came, instead of be- 
ginning practice with the percussion instrument 
as he had said he would do, the skipper seemed 
to forget all about it. 

“Well, boys, we’ll travel on,” he said, when 
breakfast had been served. “We’re going to 
have a fine day, ’’ and so it proved. 

All that lay they “chugged” up the river; 
“chugged” being about the only word that 
properly! describes the progress of a motor 
boat, for it doesn’t sail and it doesn’t steam, 
though, of course, steam does come from the 
muffler at times. 

They made fast that night at the edge of a 
good-sized town, and all three going ashore 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


143 


found letters awaiting them at the post office. 
There were several for Captain Tod. 

‘^One^s from Driscoll/^ he announced. 

He ’ll meet us three days from now at Cardiff. 
He’s picked up several other freaks and he 
wants to open a show soon.” 

hope we have some four or five legged 
chickens for him,” remarked Chot. 

Eiok said nothing. He was busy reading 
a letter from liome, but, to his surprise, not a 
word was in it about the matter on, which he 
had written. His father and mother sent their 
regards to Uncle Tod, but gave no hint as to 
whether or not he might be insane. 

can’t understand it!” mused Eick. 
‘^However, I’ve got to stick to him, that’s sure. 
And I’ll write again, and put a special delivery 
stamp on. If that doesn’t bring an answer 
I’ll telegraph!” 

Eick intended to write his letter that night, 
but on getting back ta the boat Captain Tod 
suddenly decided that he would take up the 
matter of drumming, and he banged away, in 
a most amateur manner, until Eick and Chot, 
acting as good-natured over it as possible, 
laughingly left the boat for a stroll on shore. 


144 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Isn’t that the limit!” exclaimed Chot, while 
the booming sound became more faint as they 
increased the distance from the Sallie. 

“It sure is queer,” agreed Rick. “If I had 
time I’d go back to town now and send a tele- 
gram ; telling my folks- all about this. ” 

“Let’s wait a while,” suggested Chot. 
“iSometimes, you know, old folks get childish, 
and maybe it ’s nothing worse than this in your 
Captain Tod. I remember my grandmother, 
who, just before she died around ninety years 
old, had a doll she played with.” 

“Yes, but Uncle Tod isn’t as old as that, and 
besides, I hope he isn’t going to die !” exclaimed 
Rick. 

“I hope not, either. But maybe this drum 
business doesn’t mean anything.” 

“Oh, it means something!^* declared Rick. 
“The only thing is to find out what it does 
mean. But I reckon I’ve got to stick to Uncle 
Tod.” 

‘ ‘ That ’s right ! ’ ’ chimed in his chum. “We 
can ’t desert the skipper nor the boat ! ’ ’ 

The drumming was brought to an unexpected 
stop soon after this talk, for from a houseboat, 
moored a short distance away from the Sallie 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


145 


came protesting hails, and Captain Tod, with 
a good-natured laugh agreed to ^‘cut it out,’’ 
as the protestants asked him to do. 

‘‘I’ll get so I can drum better after a while,” 
he told they boys with a cheerful grin, when 
they came back to the boat. 

Rick did not feel like asking him why he 
wanted to perfect himself on this instrument. 

The next day they started on again, but had 
not gone more than a few miles when there was 
a series of strange sounds from the motor com- 
partment, and the captain, reaching the place 
on the jump, shut off the power with a cry of 
dismay. 

“What’s the matter?” shouted Rick, yrho 
was feeding ‘Esmerelda. 

“She’s starting to chew up her bearings. 
Oil pump isn’t working! This is bad!” 

And unfortunate enough it was, for the en- 
gine was put out of commission by the accident. 
As you boys probably know, the ^‘bearings” 
of a motor consist of a particular kind of metal 
which makes friction less. The crank shaft, 
where the piston rod turns it, and the open end 
of the piston rod are lined with “Babbitt,” or 
other metal. This is kept oiled, just as the 


146 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘^brasses^’ in the journals of railroad car 
wheels are kept lubricated by a mass of cotton 
wfiste saturated with oil. 

If this lubrication fails the metal becomes 
dry and if it is kept in motion it heats, and 
the engine is said to be ‘‘chewing up her bear- 
ings.’^ The soft lining of the friction surfaces 
is worn away. 

This is what happened to the engine of the 
Sallie, and it meant a delay of several days un- 
til new bearings could be made and put in 
place. 

“We’ll have to send word to Mr. Driscoll 
that we can’t meet him at Cardiif as promised,” 
said Captain Tod, and this was done. 

The accident, with the succeeding work in 
making repairs, put out of Eick’s mind his 
plan of sending further word to his father and 
mother about his suspicions regarding Uncle 
Tod. And, while they were laid up for repairs, 
the skipper’s actions were all that could be de- 
sired, even, to omitting performances on the 
drum. Eick began to feel that perhaps there 
was nothing wrong after all. 

“I’ll wait a bit longer,” he said. “Maybe 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


147 


my folks didn^t get my other letter, and it may 
be just as well they didn^t/^ 

In due time the S alliens engine was fitted with 
new bearings, and the defect in the oiling sys- 
tem corrected. Once more they started off, 
and when they reached Cardiff they found 
Hokum Driscoll and his family, aboard the 
Pet awaiting them. The former circus man 
had cruised down an intersecting river to meet 
his friends. 

^^Well, where are all these freaks I hear 
about?’’ asked Mr. Driscoll, when greetings 
had been exchanged. 

‘^Here they are!” cried Eick, leading the 
way to the deck coop of Esmerelda and the 
boxes of the porcupines. 

‘^Good!” exclaimed the showman. ^^They 
sure are worth having ! I’ll have a great bally- 
hoo!” 

‘^'What’s a ballyhoo?” asked Eick. ‘Hs 
that some other freak animal?” 

Hokum Driscoll laughed. 

‘‘Ballyhoo is a word that isn’t in any diction- 
ary I ever came across,” he answered. “It 
means something that a showman can get out 


148 


EICK AND EUDDY AFLOAT 


in front of his tent and shout about as an at- 
traction to get people inside. These porcu- 
pines «and the freak chicken will be a great 
ballyhoo — that is I can have the barker yell his 
head ofE about ^em.’’ 

‘-^What’s a barker?’’ Chot wanted to know. 

‘‘He’s the man who stands ouside and sells 
tickets, and also talks about what’s on the inside 
of the tent to get those on the outside to go in, ’ ’ 
was the showman’s reply. ‘‘A* good barker 
and some ballyhoos like these are half of a show. 
I’m much obliged to you for getting me these, 
and I’ll pay you all you spent and more too. 
What did you pay for the porcupines?” 

“Nothing,” answered Eick. 

“Then that’sr all clear profit, for I’ll buy ’em 
of you,” which he did, giving the boys each five 
dollars. They thought this was too much, but 
Captain Tod said it wasn’t^ and as he refused 
to take any share of the money Eick and Chot 
had some unexpected cash to spend. Mr. Dris- 
coll also repaid the skipper what he had spent 
for Esmerelda, and then, as it was nearly time 
for the eggs to hatch, the “ballyhoo” showman 
decided to wait and see what might come out 
of the incubator. 


DISAPPOINTMENT 


149 


‘^One of the eggs is crackin V’ reported little 
Mary one day, when she had come over to the 
Sallie, on a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Driscoll. 
‘‘I think a kippie is cornin’ out.’’ (‘‘Kippie” 
was her word for little chicken.) 

‘‘Oh, we must see this!” cried Hokum Dris- 
coll. “I never saw a real freak come into 
being.” 

But alas for their hopes! Four of the five 
eggs that had been put into the incubator 
hatched, but the little chickens were just or- 
dinary ones — no extra legs, tails or anything. 
“But they is awful cute little kippies !” declared 
Mary. 

“You may have them for your own,” offered 
Captain Tod. 

“I’ll let Esmerelda take care of ’em for me,” 
decided Mary, and this was done, the four 
legged hen graciously accepting the chickens 
in whose bringing into the world she had no 
hand, or, rather, to be more correct, no feather. 


CHAPTEE XV 


LONG BIVER CAMP 

H owever, even if the* eggs that Esmer- 
elda had laid did not turn out any 
extraordinary chickens, Mr. Driscoll felt that 
he was well started on his freak show. 

‘‘IVe heard of some other queer animals I 
can pick up around this part of the country,’’ 
he announced when the hen, the porcupines and 
the little ‘‘kippies” had been transferred to his 
boat. ‘‘Here’s a chap who wants to get rid of 
a rooster with an owl’s head.” 

“A rooster with an owl’s head!” exclaimed 
Rick, as Hokum Driscoll drew from his pocket 
a copy of the trade magazine “Billboard,” 
which is the official organ of many showmen. 

“That’s what he advertises,” went on Mr. 
Driscoll. “Look!” 

He turned to a page of small advertisements 
wherein the boys saw offered for sale not only 
ordinary animals such as monkeys, elephants, 
tigers, trained cats, dogs and canaries, but 
160 


LONG RIVER CAMP 


151 


‘‘great ballyhoos/’ such as a freak cow, with 
five perfect legs, a “bat fish,’’ stuffed sharks, 
and a “devil headed rooster.” 

“I don’t take much stock in that last,” de- 
clared Mr. Driscoll. But this fellow who says 
he has a rooster with an owl’s head isn’t far 
from here, and I’m going to look him up.” 

‘‘What’s the matter with the devil headed 
one?” asked Captain. Tod. 

“Most likely to be a fake. Besides, I don’t 
want anything that wouldn’t be decent for ladies 
and children to come in and see. I never ran, 
anything but a good show,” said Mr. Driscoll, 
with a look of pride and affection toward his 
wife and little girl, “and I’m not going to begin 
now. Everything I have is above board.” 

“What do you reckon this rooster with an 
owl’s head is like?” Chot wanted to know. 

“Oh, I s’pose there’s some freak, but odd, 
arrangement of the feathers around its head,” 
the showman answered. “Anyhow if it looks 
like an owl I can truthfully ballyhoo it that way. 
So I’ll be going over to see it in a few days. 
Meanwhile, if you hear of any more freaks pick 
’em up for me — ^if you can get ’em without pay- 
ing too much.” 


152 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Captain Tod promised that he would do this 
and he and the boys having bought some sup- 
plies and provisions for Long River Camp, 
which they would reach in a few days, said fare- 
well, for the time, to Hokum Driscoll and his 
family. 

On chugged the Saliie until one morning, 
after several days of travel. Captain Tod 
turned the prow of the boat into the quiet 
waters of a big stream. 

^‘Long River announced the skipper. 
‘ ‘ Here we are, boys ! ’ ’ 

“Whereas camp?’' asked Rick. 

‘‘Oh, quite a few miles up. But I’m begin- 
ning to feel at home already ! ’ ’ 

Indeed there was a distinct change in the Cap- 
tain ’s manner, noticeable to both lads. Since 
meeting with Mr. Driscoll, and getting rid of the 
freaks, the skipper had been much quieter. 
Rick had almost come to the conclusion that his 
previous opinions were all wrong, and that his 
uncle’s mind was' not affected. He did not 
carry out his intention of writing or telegraph- 
ing his folks. 

“Yes, we’ll soon her at Long River Camp — ^my 


LONG RIVER CAMP 


153 


place, ’ ’ the captain went on. ^ ^ And then you ’ll 
see some doings, hoys!” 

For just an instant Rick was impressed by 
that word ^‘doings,” but as Chot gave a joyous 
shout, in anticipation of the outdoor fun to 
come, Rick’s suspicions were lulled, and he 
began to believe that Uncle Tod only meant they 
would have good times in the woods and cruis- 
ing on the river. 

Up the stream went the Sallie, The craft 
was running much better since new bearings 
had replaced those she ‘‘chewed up,” but Cap- 
tain Tod did not get all the speed possible out 
of her. 

“There’s no great rush,” he told the boys. 
“The camp won’t run away, though I wish 
Slither would ! ’ ’ and he added the last with such 
energy that Rick looked up in surprise and 
asked : 

“Who’s Slither?” 

It was a matter that had been troubling him 
ever since he had come upon his uncle in the 
woods, and had heard the skipper muttering 
about “crazy is as crazy does !” 

“Slither, oh, he calls himself my partner, and 


154 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


he was — once — but he isn’t any more!” was 
the answer. 

^‘Did you have a fight!” asked Rick. 

“Well, not exactly a fight. It’s too long a 
story to tell now. But Slither is at Long River 
Camp, and I don’t hanker on spending any 
more time with him than I have to. I’m en- 
joying myself now, and I won’t, quite so much, 
when I see Slither. So there’s no use in hur- 
rying.” 

Keeping to this resolution, the skipper held 
down the speed of the Sallie. It was pleasant 
voyaging up Long River, and to Rick and Chot 
it was a new country, the state through which 
it flowed being several hundred miles removed 
from their seaside home. 

“Any fish here!” asked Chot eagerly, as 
he surveyed the water, which was quiet in spots, 
and again turbulent as it flowed between nar- 
rowed banks, while in some places there were 
rapids, studded with ugly rocks. These loca- 
tions the skipper gave a wide berth. 

“Fish!” repeated Captain Tod with a 
chuckle, “Well, I should say so! I’ve pulled 
out some big ones. We’ll try our luck to-night, 
as we’ll have to lay over when it gets dark. 


LONG RIVER CAMP 


155 


There ’s a bad spot in the river, just above here, 
and I donT want to navigate it except by day- 
light.’^ 

overhaul the tackle,” suggested Rick, 
and with Ruddy lying at his feet on deck 
the boy proceeded to get the fishing gear in 
shape. 

Captain Tod had spoken truthfully when he 
mentioned fish in connection with Long River, 
for baited hooks had scarcely been tossed into 
the stream before there were bites, and soon all 
three voyagers were busy landing prize beau- 
ties of the finny tribe. 

They had anchored for the night in a quiet 
cove, and it bore out the appearance it had pre- 
sented in the early evening, for scarcely a sound 
disturbed our friends until morning. 

Once again they moved slowly up stream, 
passing through a series of rapids, and at noon 
Captain Tod, who had stationed himself in the 
bow, while Rick steered, gave a cry of : 

‘‘There she is!” 

“What?” asked Chot. 

‘‘My camp — Long River Camp! Here we 
are! And there’s that rat Slither!” he added 
in a lower voice. 


156 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


The boys looked to where he pointed. The 
river broadened out and flowed between wide, 
green meadows, though at one point on the left, 
as they ascended the stream, there was a high 
bluff. And it was on a shoulder of this bluff, 
perhaps twenty-five feet above the stream, and 
some distance away that a log cabin could be 
made out. 

As the boys looked, a figure left the cabin and 
came down a path to the river. 

‘‘That’s him — the rat !” muttered the captain 
again, and there was a look on his uncle’s face 
Rick did not like to see. At once the boy’s 
doubts and fears came rushing back into his 
mind. 

‘ ‘ Nice camp ! ’ ’ observed Chot. 

“Yes, it is a good one,” said the captain. “I 
hope you boys will enjoy it there. I know you 
would, only for one thing — ^but why talk about 
that now. Maybe I can put over my big idea, 
and if I do — ” 

His voice trailed off as though he might be 
talking to himself. 

As the Sollie came nearer to the camp, the 
lone figure paused and gazed under a shading 
hand. Then a voice hailed : 


LONG RIVER CAMP 


157 


‘‘That you TodT^ 

“Yes, and IVe brought company. Get a fire 
started!” 

There was nothing in the skipper’s voice, as 
he made this answer, to indicate that he har- 
bored any feelings toward his partner, and 
Rick and Chot were much surprised to see the 
two men shake hands, cordially enough, it ap- 
peared. 

After having heard the not very complimen- 
tary name “rat” used in connection, with Slither 
to whom they were introduced, Rick and his 
chum did not know what to think, after seeing 
the skipper thus seemingly so friendly with 
the man. Slither was not exactly prepossess- 
ing. He had an ugly face, with a long, thin 
jaw, shifty eyes and teeth which are commonly 
described as “buck” — that is they protruded 
over his under lip, not adding anything to the 
beauty of his face. 

But he seemed cordial enough, welcoming 
the boys and making himself busy in. starting 
a fire, while the skipper and the boys brought 
on shore their belongings, and such food as had 
not been eaten on the voyage. 

“Did you see him take it ashore?” asked Rick 


158 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


of Chot, when they were alone on the Sallie, un- 
loading the last of the supplies. 

‘‘Take what ashore?’^ 

“That kid^s drum he bought.^’ 

“No, I didn’t see it at all. In fact I haven’t 
noticed it lately. Have you 1 ’ 

“No, and I ’m wondering. ’ ’ 

And the boys wondered still more, when a 
little later, they found under some coils of 
rope, the smashed wooden part of the drum. 
But the skin, heads were missing. 

There’s some mystery here,” decided Rick. 


CHAPTER XVI 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 

M ystery there was, indeed, Chot as- 
sented when his chum put out this idea ; 
but what it was, and how to solve it, were other 
matters. At present the best plan seemed to be 
to say nothing about it, but to watch for what 
was to happen next. 

And, somewhat to the disappointment of Rick 
and Chot, to say naught of Ruddy, nothing 
very much happened. They were at Long 
River Camp, and though Nick Shther was not 
the best appearing camp comrade they could 
have selected, he seemed anxious enough to 
please, not only Captain Tod, but also the boys 
and Ruddy too; for he made friends with the 
setter; no very difficult task as any of you know 
who have ever owned this breed of dogs. 

‘‘Wonder why the skipper called him a ratT’ 
ventured Chot while he and Rick were seeing 
that the Sallie was well made fast. 

“Give it up,’^ answered Rick. “But we’ll 

159 


160 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


just have to keep our eyes peeled. I don’t like 
that Slither.” 

‘‘Nor I. But it’s queer why your uncle 
should buy a drum and bust it.” 

“Yes, and that isn’t the only queer thing. 
But we won’t say anything now.” 

To this Chot agreed, and having thus set out 
a line of action the boys began to enjoy them- 
selves. Long River Camp was well located 
for a pleasant summer visit. There were high 
hills, almost mountains, behind it, and a fine 
river in front, while woods surrounded it on 
three sides. The camp was located on the slop- 
ing side of a big valley, through which flowed 
Long River. 

“Any hunting in these woods?” asked Rick, 
as all four sat down to the rough table in the 
log cabin for their first meal together. 

“Plenty — ^in season,” answered Nick Slither. 
“You boys want to come up here in the fall.” 

“I’d like to!” exclaimed Chot. 

“Maybe you can,” said the captain. 

“Did you finish up all the business you — er — 
went to look after?” asked Uncle Tod’s part- 
ner, with a side glance at the boys. 

“Yes — most of it,” answered the skipper. 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 


161 


Satisfactory?’^ 

^‘Fairly so.” 

‘‘You didn’t sell our claim?” 

“Our claim? Mine, you mean!” came the 
sharp rejoinder. 

“Well, of course part of it is yours alone,” 
assented the buck-toothed man. “But we 
agreed to share in the biggest part of it.” 

“Yes, but there isn’t anything worth sharing 
in the part we both own together,” declared 
the skipper testily. “All there is seems to be a 
lot of trees, and lumber isn’t worth enough — 
especially this kind — ^to make it worth while to 
cuL” 

“Well, we got to share whatever we get out 
of this,” asserted Slither, and the two men 
seemed so near the verge of a quarrel that 
Eick and Chot were glad when a knock came 
on the cabin door, and a hearty voice called : 

“The skipper back?” 

“Yes, come in, Tom,” answered Captain Tod. 
“Pull up a chair and have some grub,” he in- 
vited. “My nephew, or, rather, my niece’s 
son, and his chum,” and he indicated Eick and 
Chot. 

“Whose dog?” asked the newcomer, a bluff, 


162 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


jovial and red-faced individual who might have 
been either a farmer or lumber jack. 

‘‘Mine/’ answered Rick. “Shake, Ruddy!” 
he commanded and the setter held out a paw 
which the man, addressed as Tom, quickly 
grasped giving a genial laugh. 

“Heard you went down to the city visitin’, 
Cap’n,” said Tom, whose other name, Rick 
learned later, was Martin. 

“Yes, little matter of business,” answered 
the skipper. “I brought a motor boat back 
with me.” 

“So I see — a jim-dandy, too. What you cal- 
calatin’ on doin’ with her?” 

“Oh, just for pleasure. She’s a good one — 
we came all the way from the coast in her. ’ ’ 

“So I heard. Well, we’re glad to see you 
back. Didn’t sell off your timber tract; did 
you?” 

“No, and I don’t ever believe we will. WRat 
timber there is here won’t pay for cutting.” 

“You’re right there — ^not until the Canada 
forests begin to get thinned out more’n they 
are now.” 

“Well, something’s feot to be done about 
this claim ! ’ ’ broke in Slither, waving his hand 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 


163 


to take in the stretch of woods about the cabin. 
‘‘IVe got an interest in this and I want my 
money out of it, that^s what I want!’’ 

^‘Your money!” cried Captain Tod, with a 
look of anger on his face. ‘‘You didn’t put 
any money in ! I put up the cash to close the 
deal.” 

“Yes, but I helped Old Man Harrison, and 
he owed me something, so I share in this land 
he passed on to you!” 

“Don’t start the old quarrel!” suggested 
Mr. Martin with a laugh. “You two never 
seem to get anywhere on this business. Better 
let it drop.” 

Eick and Chot wished this would be done, 
for it was not very pleasant for them to be 
present when high words went on. They had 
not imagined — or at least Eick had not im- 
agined — anything like this would develop when 
he agreed to accompany Uncle Tod back to 
camp. And the skipper seemed to realize this, 
for, after those few high words he turned to 
the boys and said : 

“Don’t mind our talk. Tfs only a business 
deal that maybe we can straighten out sooner 
or later.” 


164 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘That^s the way to talk,” declared Tom 
Martin with a hearty laugh, of which he seemed 
to have a good supply on tap. 

‘‘By the way,” spoke Uncle Tod, seemingly 
anxious to change the subject,” know of any 
freaks around here, Tom?” 

“Freaks? What do you mean. Tod?” 

“Well odd animals — four legged chickens or 
five legged hogs — anything like that. ’ ’ 

“You might try Indian Johnnie Green! 
He’s odd enough,” chuckled Mr. Martin. 

“Are there really Indians around here?” 
asked Rick eagerly, while Chot’si eyes grew 
brighter. 

“Don’t get excited, boys!” said Mr. Martin. 
“The only Indians are some tame ones that 
the state has pensioned off on a reservation 
around here. They were wild enough once — 
or some of them were. Old Johnnie Green is 
one of the oldest — used to be quite a character 
in his day.” 

“What’s his freak specialty?” asked Chot. 

“His stomach! It’s as big as a barrel, and 
as hard as nails, like an athlete’s. He used 
to let the summer visitors, who occasionally 
stroll up in these hills, kick or bang him in the 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 165 

stomach for a quarter. Two kicks for half a 
dollar.^’ 

‘‘What in the world forT’ Eick asked. 
“That sounds — ’’ he was going to say “crazy,” 
but as he remembered his uncle he changed 
the word to “queer”! 

‘.Old Johnnie Green is queer!” chuckled Mr. 
Martin. “But that^s what he used to do — let 
summer visitors, who were looking for sensa- 
tions, kick him in the stomach for a quarter, 
or two bits.” 

“Hard?” asked Chot. 

“Hard what?” Mr. Martin wanted to know. 

“Did they kick him hard?” 

“Oh, yes, toloble so.” 

“DidnT it hurt him?” inquired Eick, laugh- 
ing at the queer idea. 

“Didn^t seem to!” chuckled Tom Martin. 
“Johnnie was always hungry after any one 
kicked him, or punched him in the stomach. It 
gave him an appetite, I reckon. 

“Of course to some people,” went on Tom 
Martin, “It may seem a rather impolite thing 
to have an Indian offer to let you belt him a 
couple of good whacks in; the stomach, but 
lots of white athletes so develop themselves 


166 


EICK AND EUDDY AFLOAT 


that they can take very hard blows on their 
abdomens without flinching. In fact it’s part 
of their training. 

remember one who had across his stomach 
three big, broad bands of muscle that you 
couldn’t make an impression on with axe, it 
seemed to me. Johnnie Green was like that. 
He had developed his stomach, or maybe he 
came by it naturally, until it was like iron, you 
could boot him as hard as you liked and he 
never turned aside— kept on grinning all the 
while. You remember him; don’t you?” and 
he turned to Uncle Tod after this somewhat 
lengthy explanation. 

‘‘Yes,” agreed the skipper, “though I’ve 
sort of lost track of him. But he isn’t the kind 
of freak Hokum Driscoll wants. He’s after 
two headed frogs, or something like that.” 

“Oh, I see what you mean. Well, I don’t 
know of any, but if I come across ’em. I’ll re- 
member. iCourse you wouldn’t know Old John- 
nie Green,” he added to Mr. Slither. 

“No, I’m a comparative stranger in these 
parts. But who is this Driscoll person?” he 
asked Uncle Tod. 

“Fellow we met up with on our way here,” 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 


167 


was the somewhat ungracious answer. It was 
clear that Uncle Tod and his partner were not 
on very friendly terms, and the hoys wondered 
what was back of it all — ^wondered, too, why 
the skipper had broken the drum on which he 
had announced his intention to perform. 

‘‘Unless he gave up in disgust,^’ thought 
Eick, and then he added to his wonder over 
that, some thoughts on the general actions of 
his mother ^s relative since he had seen the old 
man in the Belemere woods. 

Long Eiver Camp was an ideal place to stay 
from the viewpoint of Eick, Euddy and Chot. 
After their first meal relations seemed a bit 
more cordial between Uncle Tod and the buck- 
toothed partner. When Tom Martin had left, 
promising to come again and to keep an eye 
open for freaks, Eick and Chot were feeling 
much better. 

The log cabin was so arranged that four 
could sleep most comfortably in it. There were 
three rooms, one having two bunks in it, and 
this was assigned to the boys. 

The other rooms contained one bunk each, 
and these served for Cax)tain Tod and Nick 
Slither respectively. Whether his uncle had 


168 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


built the cabin, and thus arranged it so he would 
not have to sleep in the same room with his 
partner, Rick did not know, and had no chance 
to ask for a while. 

There was a sort of lean-to, or addition, on 
the cabin, and in this the cooking was done and 
the meals served. But now, with the advent 
of warm weather. Captain Tod said they would 
put up a canvas shelter and eat out of doors. 

“WeTl put that up to-morrow,’’ he told the 
boys. 

It might have been expected that Rick and 
Chot would not sleep very well their first night 
in camp, having been accustomed to the boat. 
But tired boyhood knows no such thing as wake- 
ful nights, unless something unusual occurs, 
and so both lads were in dreamland soon after 
crawling into their bunks. 

It was when Uncle Tod had gone up the river 
in the Sallie, next day ‘‘to see a man,” leaving 
Rick and Chot with Slither to put up the canvas 
eating shelter, that the buck-toothed partner 
began asking several questions of the boys. 

“Did you notice anything funny about Cap- 
tain Tod on your way here, boys?” he opened 
with. 


SLITHER ASKS QUESTIONS 


169 


‘‘What do you mean by funny T’ countered 
Eick, nudging hisl chum to indicate that the 
latter was to keep qidet. 

“I mean did he talk about any big fortune up 
here in the hills — at this camp I mean — a for- 
tune in gold or diamonds T’ 

“No, he didn’t say a word about it,” truth- 
fully answered Eick. He did not believe he had 
the right to speak about the brass bound box 
and the glittering rocks. 

“No?” Nick Slither seemed rather surprised. 
‘ ‘ Did he talk much about me ? ” he asked. 

“ No, ” was all the answer Eick gave. For, in 
truth, his uncle had not talked much about the 
partner, though what had been said was not 
very complimentary. 

“Well, we don’t get along as well as we 
might,” admitted Slither. “You see your 
uncle and I met out west. We befriended a 
man named Harrison, and in return he gave 
us title to this land. I claim your uncle and I 
own this together, but he says there is a part 
he owns all by himself. That’s one dispute. 
Old Man Harrison seemed to set a good value 
on this tract, though we haven’t been able to 
find out why, nor what it’s good for. I don’t 


170 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


believe it’s worth anything, and I’m trying to 
find out why your uncle acts so queerly about a 
certain part of it. I’ve a good notion to — ” 
But what it was Mr. Slither planned to do he 
never told, for just as he was about to make 
what Rick hoped was a disclosure, there was 
a sound of some one approaching, and, a mo- 
ment later, there stalked into the camp clearing 
what Rick and Chot at first took to be a veri- 
table giant of a colored man. A second look, 
however, showed him to be a ragged Indian. 
‘‘Old Johnnie Green!” exclaimed Mr. Shther. 
“Um!” grunted the ^visitor. Then, catch- 
ing sight of the boy strangers he grinned at 
them, thrust out his overhanging stomach and 
invited: “You kick um hard two bits?” 

For a moment Rick and Chot were rather 
shocked by this frank — ^not to say freak — offer. 
But they reflected that an Indian might well be 
as proud of his hard stomach as any more 
civilized fighter, of the boxing or wrestling 
class. Where is the difference? 



“You kick um hard two bits?” 





CHAPTER XVII 


THE INDIAN DEUM 


LD JOHNNIE GREEN looked from Rick 



to Chot, and then back to Rick again. 
Once more the Indian thrust out his stomach 
and grunted. 

“You kick ^em hard — two bits! Johnnie 
Green never say nothinM’’ 

“No, they don^t want to kick you, Johnnie,” 
explained Mr. Slither. “They aren’t summer 
visitors. This lad is Captain Tod’s nephew, 
or half nephew, which is the same thing, and 
this is a friend of his,” and the buck-toothed 
man nodded at Chot. 

“Who’s um dog?” asked Johnnie Green, 
seemingly more interested now in the animal 
than in the boys. 

“Mine,” answered Rick, and Ruddy was al- 
ready making friends with the newcomer, who 
patted the dog’s head. 

“Good thing he isn’t a white dog,” said Mr. 
Slither, under his breath. 


171 


172 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


asked Rick. 

‘‘ ’Cause the Indians on the reservation have 
a celebration every year when they sacrifice a 
white dog. If they can’t get one of their own 
they take the first one they come across ; white 
or not. They aren’t so particular of late I 
hear. 

‘‘No have white dog feast now I” exclaimed 
Old Johnnie Green. “Not ’till after Com 
Dance.” 

‘ ‘ That ’s so, ’ ’ admitted Mr. SHther. ‘ ‘ I don ’t 
know much about these Indian customs, only 
what I heard Captain Tod tell about. But 
they do kill white dogs, I know. ’ ’ 

“Could we ever go to that other dance^ — 
what did you call it?” asked Rick eagerly. He 
and Chot were beginning to see great possi- 
bilities in their visit to Long River Camp. 

“Why, I reckon you could go,” answered Mr. 
Slither. “You mean the Corn Dance. I’ve 
heard Captain Tod tell about it — ^he’s been to 
’em, seein’ as he’s a native around here. He 
says about aU they do is to yell, what they call 
singin’ I s’pose, and rattle dried com in pigs’ 
bladders!” 

“I’d like to see it!” declared Rick. 


THE INDIAN DRUM 


173 


‘‘You boys come!’’ invited Old Johnnie 
Green. “Kickum hard two bits!” and he pat- 
ted his over-big stomach. “No hurt Old John- 
nie Green!” and catching up a heavy stick of 
wood he pounded it on his abdomen until the 
air was booming with sound, but the Indian 
never showed a sign of distress. 

It was the poor pagan’s one talent, and we 
must not blame him for putting it forward on 
every occasion. I am not upholding him in it, 
nor excusing those who encouraged him, who 
were, perhaps, more to blame than Johnnie 
Green. I am aware that it was not the nicest 
thing in the world to do, but who expects a 
half-civilized Indian to be perfectly proper? 
Not I, for one ! 

Rick and Chot wanted to laugh, but did not 
know that it would be exactly the right thing 
to do, and they were rather relieved when the 
Indian ambled away, leaving them free to ask 
questions of Mr. Slither. 

But the latter knew little of Indian customs, 
not having lived in that section of the country 
long — ^in fact having only recently come back 
from the west with Captain Tod. 

The advent of Old Johnnie Green, with his 


174 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


chorus of ‘^kick um hard two bits/’ seemed to 
have thrown Mr. Shther off the track of asking 
questions of the boys, concerning what they had 
seen Captain Tod doing while on the cruise 
from Belemere. Rick was glad of this. 

While the boy had certain uneasy suspicions 
regarding his uncle, he did not feel that he 
should mention them to the buck-toothed man, 
particularly when Uncle Tod had spoken of 
his partner as a “rat.” 

“He must have some good reason for it,” 
reasoned Rick, “and I’m not going to do any- 
thing to make trouble for Uncle Tod. All the 
same I’d like to know what he’s up to, and what 
he meant when he said crazy is as crazy does. ’ ’ 

However there was no chance to find this 
out, though Rick resolved to keep his eyes 
“peeled”; and if the time came to help his 
uncle against Partner Slither, who, truth to 
tell, neither Rick nor Chot particularly liked, 
Rick would side with the skipper. 

Captain Tod came back from his little ex- 
cursion, saying nothing of his errand. He 
greeted the boys cordially, nodded at Mr. 
Slither, and then proposed a tramping trip 
through the woods for his nephew and Chot. 


THE INDIAN DRUM 


175 


Of course there was no keeping Ruddy back 
from this outing, and boys and dog had a great 
time wandering through the forest, with no 
particular object in view. 

Captain Tod, however, did seem to have some 
end in mind on this trip, for he walked on 
rather more speedily than do persons merely 
out for a stroll to pass the time. On occasions, 
too, he stopped and seemed to be calculating the 
layout of the land, the course of brooks and the 
rock formation. 

‘‘Is there any mining going on around here!’^ 
asked Rick, when they stopped to eat a little 
lunch they had brought with them. 

“None that I ever heard of — why do you 
ask!’’ inquired Captain Tod, and Rick thought 
his uncle looked at him rather sharply. 

‘ ‘ Oh, I just wondered, ’ ’ was the answer. “I 
donT see what you and Mr. Slither can make 
money at off this land; and he did say some- 
thing about prospecting. I thought prospect- 
ing meant digging for gold or silver.’^ 

“Oh, no, you can prospect for oil and other 
things under ground,” replied the skipper. 
“But I don’t imagine Slither will find much 
here, however hard he prospects. I’ve got to 


176 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


keep watch of him, though, and if you boys see 
him digging around anywhere, as if he might 
be sinking a shaft, let me know.’’ 

Rick and Chot promised, vaguely wondering 
what it all meant. 

This woodland excursion was but one of many 
and with fishing, swimming and paddling on 
the river in a canoe that belonged to camp, 
formed the chief delights of the two lads and 
Ruddy — for the dog went everywhere with 
them. Often Captain Tod would accompany 
the lads, and again they would go ofi by them- 
selves. Mr. Slither never was im the party, 
however, and there seemed to be what might 
be termed ‘‘armed neutrality” between him and 
Captain Tod. 

Once when the boys were out in the woods 
with Ruddy, they broke through the under- 
brush into a little clearing, and from a tumble- 
down shack there emerged Old Johnnie Green. 

“Hello!” greeted Rick. “You live here?” 

“Sure! You kick um hard two bits!” he 
again invited, smilingly. 

“Not today!” laughed Chot. 

“Got any arrows, or tomahawks?” asked 
Rick, eager for a real Indian relic. 


THE INDIAN DRUM 


177 


^‘No got. Squaw maybe down reservation 
hab some,’’ grunted the Indian. 

‘‘Where is the reservation?” asked Rick, for 
they had not yet visited the small section of the 
valley, set aside by the state, for the use of 
the Redmen, who had once owned all that ter- 
ritory. 

“This part,” said Old Johnnie Green, indi- 
cating his own cabin. “You come I show you 
more.” 

He led the way along a path that ran in 
front of his shack, where he lived alone, it 
seemed. Reaching a big rock that jutted out, 
overhanging the valley, Johnnie Green pointed 
to a collection of huts, log cabins, slab-sided 
houses and what seemed to be a church, nestled 
along the bank of a creek. 

‘ ‘ There Castle, ’ ’ he announced, and the boys 
learned later that this was the Indian village 
of the reservation, and that the “Castle,” as 
it was called, was the big building, Uke a church, 
where the Indians met on certain occasions each 
year to hold feasts and dances, in accordance 
with ancient customs. 

There were two factions among what was left 
of the Indians. Many of them had intermar- 


178 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


ried among “poor whites’^ and negroes, and 
wliile part of the residents of the reservation 
held to the old beliefs of their ancestors, some 
had become converts to the Christian religion. 
Old Johnnie Oreen was a pagan of the pagans. 

‘‘You think maybe some squaw down in the 
village has Indian arrows and tomahawks T’ 
asked Rick. 

“It Tnk mebby so — ^yep ! Y ou kick um hard — 
two bitsT’ invited Johnnie Green as a last re- 
sort when Rick and Chot strolled away. They 
laughingly refused, determined to save their 
money for the purchase of relics if they could 
find any. 

Indian squaws, however much they might 
cling to the traditions of their forefathers, had 
their own ideas about the value of such relics 
as they had preserved from a bygone age. And 
though one or two of them did show the boys 
some stone* hatchet heads and arrow points, 
they asked more for them than the same relics 
could be bought for in a curio shop. 

Go the boys called this part of their excur- 
sion off, and wandered about the Indian Reser- 
vation as they pleased, little attention being 
paid to them, since summer visitors were com- 


THE INDIAN DRUM 


179 


mon. Not that there was much to see ; though 
a passing farmer pointed to the small creek 
that ran through the Indians’ land, and told 
the boys it once ‘‘ran red with blood,” after 
some battle between the early white settlers and 
the Redmen. 

Returning to Long River camp the boys did 
not find matters there as pleasant as might be. 
There seemed to have been a quarrel between 
Uncle Tod and Partner Slither, for the two 
sat far apart, shrouded in gloomy silence, not 
speaking. 

“I declare I can ’t make you out ! ’ ’ Mr. Slither 
was saying in fretful tones as the hoys came 
up the hill. “You’re a mystery to me!” 

“Glad of it!” announced the skipper with a 
grin in the direction of his nephew. “Mighty 
glad of it!” 

“Hu!” snorted the buck-toothed man, as he 
got up and walked out into the woods. “This 
sufe beats me ! ” 

As Uncle Tod gave no explanation of what 
had happened, neither Rick nor Chot felt like 
asking any questions, but they were puzzled, not 
to say a bit alarmed and uncomfortable, over 
it. 


180 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


That night, when they were aU seated out 
in front of the cabin, fighting away such mos- 
quitoes as were not driven off by a smudge fire 
built to windward, there suddenly sounded on 
the quiet evening a low and distant booming 
sound. 

‘^What^s that — thunder?’’ asked Rick, as 
Ruddy started up with a growl. 

Thunder? No!” exclaimed Uncle Tod. 
‘‘Listen!” 

They remained quiet. 

Again came the booming sound, now louder 
than at first. 

“I was afraid of this,” said Captain Tod, 
ominously rising from his chair that was tilted 
back against the side of the cabin. “I was 
afraid of this!” 

“But what is it?” asked Rick. 

“The Indian drum,” was the solemn answer. 
“It means trouble — ^it always does when the 
Indian drum sounds. Johnnie Green and his 
gang are going to start a ruction again. That’s 
it, sure as guns ! The Indian drum ! ’ ’ 


CHAPTER XVin 


SLITHER IS AFRAID 

R ick and Chot, to do them justice, were not 
nearly so alarmed over the excited ex- 
clamations of Captain Tod as might have been 
expected in boys of their age. Truth to tell 
they were rather glad, than otherwise. For 
they were normal lads, and their Boy Scout ac- 
tivities had taught them a love for adventures 
in the open. 

Of course this isn’t saying that any troop of 
Boy Scouts would welcome an attack by half 
civilized Indians, but if such an attack had to 
come I don’t believe any body of youngsters 
would be any better to meet it than those same 
Boy Scouts. 

Captain Tod sprang away from his chair in 
such haste that he tipped it over as he ran into 
the cabin, to emerge with a rifle. 

‘‘Slither, get your gun!” he sharply ordered. 
The effect of this command on the buck- 
toothed man was curious. He seemed to shrink 
181 


182 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


in his clothes, as though he wished he might 
hide himself completely in them. 

‘‘Do you — do you think there ^s goin^ to be 
trouble r' faltered Slither. 

“ Do I thinh sol I'm sur-e of it I " cried Skip- 
per Tod, and Rick noticed the tense excitement 
in his uncle's voice. “I know these Indians 
better than you do. Slither. Whenever that 
drum sounds it means they are having one of 
their queer dances. And this isn't the time of 
year for the Com Dance or the White Dog 
Feast. It's something else, and I think they're 
after us!'' 

“After usf^* exclaimed the partner. ^^Usf 
You mean that I" 

“Yes. Don't stand there talking. Get your 
gun! There may be fighting. You boys get 
in the cabin!" he ordered. 

“But we want to fight, too !" exclaimed Rick. 

‘ ‘ Sure ! ' ' eagerly added Chot. ‘ ‘ Haven 't you 
any more guns I" 

“This is no place for boys!" went on Cap- 
tain Tod. “I promised your parents I'd look 
after you, and keep you out of trouble. And 
these Indians can make the worst kind of 
trouble once they get started. Go inside!" 


a 


SLITHER IS AFRAID 


183 


‘‘We aren’t afraid!” declared Rick, snap- 
ping his fingers to call Ruddy back to his side, 
for the dog had run a little way into the now 
dark woods to investigate the queer, booming 
sound. 

‘^I know you aren’t afraid,” admitted Cap- 
tain Tod. “That’s just the reason I’m not go- 
ing to let you poke your heads into danger. I 
told your fathers and mothers I’d look after 
you.” 

“But you didh’t know there’s to be an Indian 
fight,” said Chot. 

“No, I didn’t figure on that,” conceded the 
skipper. “They’re coming nearer,” he added, 
as the drum boomed out again. 

“We’ll take all the blame,” urged Rick. “It 
isn’t fair for us to stay in the cabin when 
there’s fighting. We want to do our share! 
If you two are hurt we’ll have to fight any- 
how!” 

“Yes, maybe, ’ ’ said the skipper. ‘ ‘ But wait 
until we are. Now you go inside,” he ordered 
again. ‘ ‘ Maybe we ’d all better go in, ’ ’ he went 
on. “Slither, aren’t you going to get your 
gun!” and he spoke fiercely to the buck-toothed 


man. 


184 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘I — er — of course 111 get my gun, but what 
in the world are these beggars coming after 
us for, Captain Tod? We never did anything 
to theml’^ 

‘‘Except take some of their land, maybe, 
said the skipper grimly. 

“Their land?^^ cried Slither. “Why, this 
property was deeded to us — to you and me 
jointly — by Old Man Harrison, after we saved 
his life out west. It doesnl belong to the In- 
dians at all.’^ 

“All this was Indian land once,’’ said the 
captain. “The whites just took it as they 
pleased, and shoved the Indians off on a reser- 
vation. Of course we, personally, didn’t do it, 
and Old Man Harrison didn’t, either, but the 
Indians don’t know that. They think because 
we’re on what was once their hunting grounds 
that maybe we’re to blame, and they’re coming 
after us. Get your gun. Slither! Get your 
gun! There may be fighting!” 

“AU right — I’ll get it! You needn’t come 
for me that way!” cried the now thoroughly 
frightened partner, for Captain Tod had ad- 
vanced fiercely toward him. 

“Come on inside!” said Uncle Tod, looking 


SLITHER IS AFRAID 


185 


toward the boys. Bring your dog in, too,’^ 
he added to Rick. ^ ‘Maybe those Indians won’t 
be so particular whether he ’s white or not, now 
they’re on a rampage!” 

This veiled warning was enough for Rick. 
He ran to Ruddy and urged the dog inside the 
cabin. Chot and the two men followed, and the 
door was at once shut. 

But even then the sound of the booming drum 
seemed to come nearer. 

“Hadn’t we better put out the lights?” sug- 
gested Rick, for two lanterns were burning 
inside the cabin. 

“A good idea,” agreed Captutn Tod. “I’ll 
douse them. Is your gun loaded, Shthers?” 

The buck-toothed man made no answer, and 
he seemed to be fumbling over his weapon 
with fingers that plainly trembled. He could 
hardly hold the rifle. 

Rick and Chot looked at one another in sur- 
prise as Uncle Tod put out one lantern and 
reached for the other. Ruddy began to whine 
and whimper, as he crouched at Rick’s feet. 
Plainly the setter was getting worried and 
alarmed at these strange preparations ; and he 
was not a buU nor an airedale, with their fight- 


186 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


ing instincts. At best Ruddy was but a hunter 
of birds, rather a timid dog take him all in all. 

Nor was Ruddy the only one in that cabin 
who was afraid. For it became more and more 
evident that the buck-toothed man was exhi- 
biting signs of cowardice. 

‘‘You take that window, and I’ll take this 
one,” said Captain Tod, indicating a front 
opening for himself and a rear one for his 
partner. “Most likely they’ll come at us from 
two sides at once.” 

“I thought it was agin’ th’ law to let Indians 
have guns,” said Mr. Shther, weakly complain- 
ing. 

“So it is,” agreed the skipper. “It’s also 
against the law for them to start any of this 
war drum business — but that doesn’t stop ’em. 
Get to your window! Keep back, boys!” 

As he spoke there came a burst of that weird 
booming from the black woods. The throbbing 
sound was much nearer now, and Rick, not ex- 
actly obeying his uncle’s wish, crept to an end 
window and looked out. 

The moon was just then showing through 
some clouds, and by its fitful light the boy saw, 
stalking amid the trees, some figures that 


SLITHER IS AFRAID 


187 


seemed quite gigantic to his excited imagina- 
tion. One, he felt sure, was Old Johnnie Green 
— he could see that protruding stomach, and 
he recalled the old pagan invitation to ‘‘kick 
um hard — ^two bits!’’ 

Again the drum boomed out, this time so dis- 
tinctly that there could be no doubt it was 
beaten by some one near at hand. There was 
now no light in the cabin, but by the moon- 
beams that streamed in Rick and Chot could 
see their uncle at one window, his gun thrust 
out, while Slither was creeping toward the one 
he had been asked to defend. 

And then, as the drum boomed out another 
warning there accompanied the throbbing a 
weird and nerve-racking yell — if not a war 
whoop of the old, terrifying, Indian days at 
least a good imitation. 

Slither dropped his gun, and emitted a yell as 
he fled into the room where he slept, crying : 

“Don’t fight ’em, Cap’n! Don’t fight ’em! 
Let’s surrender an’ maybe they’ll spare our 
lives! Don’t fight ’em!” 

If ever there was a man afraid and terrified 
Buck-Tooth SUther was that individual! 


CHAPTER XIX 


OFF FOR HFLP 

D ifficult it would be to say who was the 
most surprised over this action on the 
part of one of their number — Eick, Chot or 
Captain Tod. All of them, of course, never 
expected anything like this — that Slither would 
show the white feather in the face of seeming 
danger. 

And yet that is just what he had apparently 
done. He had dropped his gun, and had hid- 
den himself in a safe inner room, and that be- 
fore a shot had been fired; for, as yet, no ac- 
tual attack had been made by the Indians. The 
booming of the drum continued, and an occa- 
sional wild and weird shout brought forth low 
howls of protest from Buddy, crouching at 
Rick^s side. But there was no firing on the 
part of the enemy. 

“Slither! Come back here!” ordered Captain 
Tod. 

The only answer from the darkened inner 
188 


OFF FOR HELP 


189 


room was a sort of groan, and then a whim- 
pering voice added: 

‘‘No! No! Don’t let’s fight ’em! Let’s 
surrender! They won’t scalp us, maybe, and 
we can get away! Let’s give up!” 

“Give up? I guess not!” roared Captain 
Tod. “We’ll fight if we have to. Of course 
I shan’t fire first, but I’m not going to give up. 
This land belongs to me and — ” 

“Some of it’s mine!” broke in Slither. 

“Well, not the part you claim as your share,” 
snapped out the skipper. “We’ll have to set- 
tle that between us later. But I ’m not going to 
get out just because these Indians beat a drum. 
Get your gun and fight!” 

“No! No!” whined the buck-toothed man. 
“I— I can’t fight!” 

And, to tell the shameful truth, he could not. 
He was a physical coward and his nerves had 
given way. I doubt if he could have held a 
gun without letting the muzzle weave all over, 
with more danger to those in the cabin than 
those outside. 

“I’ll take his gun!” exclaimed Rick. 

“Let me! Or get me another!” pleaded 
Chot. 


190 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Captain Tod was muttering' under his breath, 
and it need not be doubted that he was right- 
eously reviling his cowardly partner. For a 
time he turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the 
boys, and it was only when Rick came out of 
Slither ^s room with the gun that the skipper, 
looking from the window, out into the now 
brilliantly moonlit woods, exclaimed. 

‘ ‘I guess we won’t have to fight. They’re go- 
ing away!” 

^‘Who, the Indians?” asked Chot. 

‘ ‘ y es. They ’re going back. Guess they only 
did this for a warning. They didn’t fire a 
shot ! They ’re going back ! ’ ’ 

As he ceased speaking the shouts of those out- 
side the cabin grew less, and the booming of the 
drum died away. The Indians were marching 
back through the forest to their slab and log 
cabins in the Reservation. No harm had yet 
come to those of Long River Camp. But what 
the future held no one could say. 

Waiting for a time, to make sure none of the 
Indians were hiding outside. Captain Tod re- 
lighted the lanterns. Then, with a stem look 
on his face, he strode to the door of the room 


OFF FOR HELP 


191 


where Slither had retreated, and, flinging open 
the door he cried : 

‘‘Come on out — you skunk ! I’m sorry to use 
such language but I have to,” apologized the 
skipper to the boys. 

“Have they agreed to — to spare usT’ fal- 
tered the buck-toothed man. 

“Spare us? Why, you rat, they aren’t go- 
ing to touch us! They’re gone! Dear me! 
There I go again! Calling names!” sighed 
the Captain. “Yes, Slither, they’re gone.” 

“Oh, thank goodness for that! I guess they 
saw we — we were ready for ’em, and they didn’t 
dare attack us ! Oh, I’m so glad they’ve gone ! 
Are you sure they won’t come back, skip- 
per?” 

“No, I’m not sure of anything, except that 
you’re a rank coward, and that I’m sorry I ever 
had anything to do with you!” snapped out 
Uncle Tod. “They saw ‘we’ were ready, did 
they? Where do you get that ‘we’? You 
weren’t ready; not by a long shot!” 

“I — I couldn’t help it, cap’n! Indians 
always did make me nervous, especially at 
night. I can fight ’em in the day time, but not 


192 


EICK AND BUDDY AFLOAT 


at night. I — get so nervous explained 
Slither. 

‘‘Hum! Nerves are a good thing to lay it 
to!^’ snorted the skipper. “Well, you needn^t 
be nervous any more to-night. They Ve gone 1” 

‘ ‘ I — I ’m glad of that ! ’ ' faltered Slither. ‘ ‘ If 
they 11 only come back in the morning — ^when 
I can see what I^m doing — 111 show ’em what 
I ’m made of I That 's what I will ! ” he boasted. 

“Don’t!” dryly advised Mr. Tod. “Indians 
don’t like cowards any more than I do. Don’t 
show ’em what you ’re made of — chicken livers, 
I should say!” he added contemptuously. 

“Well, it’s only because it’s at night,” whin- 
ingly explained the partner. “I can fight 
daytimes all right. You’ll see if they come 
back in the morning!” 

“Well, they most likely will,” commented the 
skipper, to the no small delight of Eick and Chot, 
who were really eager and anxious to get into 
action. 

“Do — do you think so?” faltered the buck- 
toothed man. ‘ ‘ Will they come back ? ’ ’ 

“Of course they wiU!” cried the skipper. 
“And the next time there’ll be some shooting, 
sure!” 


FOR HELP 


193 


Rick and Chot wanted to cry ^ ‘hurray!^’ but 
they did not think it would be just the proper 
thing to do. As for Slither — ^he merely 
groaned, which might mean anything. 

Well, the danger’s over, for the time being,” 
went on Captain Tod. was afraid the In- 
dians were up to some doings. Old Johnnie 
Green has been acting queer lately.” 

‘‘He was all right when we saw him,” ven- 
tured Rick. 

“When did you see him?” quickly asked his 
uncle. 

“This afternoon. We went down to the res- 
ervation. He offered to let us kick him for two 
bits!” 

“His old trick; eh?” Well, probably he 
didn’t want you to get suspicious. But he’s 
been planning this raid for a long time. He 
doesn’t like the whites. There’ll be trouble in 
the morning — real trouble!” predicted the 
skipper of the Sallie, 

“You think so?” asked Slither. 

“I’m sure of it!” 

“Then we have a chance to get away now — 
while it’s dark,” suggested the buck-toothed 
man. ‘ ‘ Let ’s go ! ” and he started for the door. 


194 


RICK AND RUDDY AKDOAT 


‘ ‘ Not much ! ’ ’ cried the skipper. ‘ ‘ This is my 
claim, and — ’’ 

‘‘DonT forget I own part,’' interjected Mr. 
(Slither. 

‘‘But you don’t own the part you say you 
do!” cried the skipper. “I’ll fight for my 
rights. And I’m not going to sneak off and 
let the Indians take possession. Once they get 
possession it will be hard to oust them, even if 
we have the law with us. Possession is nine 
points of the law, you know. I’m going to 
stick.” 

“Well, then I will too. I can always fight 
better by daylight,” asserted Mr. Slither. 

This was not saying very much, the boys 
thought. 

“We’ll have to stand watch and watch to- 
night,” decided Captain Tod, when it became 
certain that the Indians had departed. “I 
don’t believe they’ll come back again before 
morning, but there’s no telling. We must keep 
watch.” 

This just suited the boys, and Eick and his 
chum now forgot all about the queer actions 
of the skipper, they forgot all about Hokum 
iDriscoll and his freak show, and Rick even let 


OFF FOR HELP 


195 


slip from Ms mind worry over the fact that he 
had heard notMng from Ms folks about the 
letter he had sent them, speaking of the possi- 
bility of Uncle Tod being insane. 

Certainly the skipper appeared all right now, 
though he was a bit excited, as, indeed, they 
all were. But he showed no signs of being out 
of Ms mind, as he arranged for each one, in turn, 
to keep watch during certain hours of darkness. 

At their own request Eick and Chot were 
allowed to sit up and take the first watch — ^until 
midnight — together. They declared they were 
not sleepy, and could not sleep if they turned 
in, though they might doze otf if obliged to take 
the last half of the night. 

So it was arranged that they should be joint 
sentries, turning the latter half of the night 
over to Captain Tod and Slither, who would 
divide it between them. 

VAnd don’t hesitate to fire if you see any- 
thing the least suspicious,” cautioned the 
skipper as he left Eick and Chot, each with a 
gun, while the two men prepared to go to bed. 
The boys knew how to handle firearms, that 
being one of the things they had been taught 
by their Scout Master. 


196 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


It was with no small sense of importance that 
Rick and Chot, with Ruddy near them, of 
course, prepared to keep watch in the cabin. 
They had never expected anythingl like this 
when they started out on the cruise with Cap- 
tain Tod. They knew there were Indian res- 
ervations out west, and on the Mexican border 
where, occasionally, the red men revolted and 
went oni shooting expeditions. But that the 
comparatively quiet tribes of one of the middle 
Atlantic states would do this never entered 
their heads. And yet Old Johnnie Green and 
his pagan followers did seem to be on the ‘‘war 
path.’^ 

Naturally Rick and Chot started at every 
sound, and more than once they were on the 
verge of firing at what, after a closer inspec- 
tion, proved to be only shadows of the night. 
They sat at the windows, with strained and 
tense nerves, while the two men slept in their 
bunks. 

“There’s a storm brewing,” said Rick in a 
low voice, when it was nearly midnight. 

“What makes you think so?” asked Chot, 
who found himseK trying to fight off sleep. 

“I can see lightning across the river, the 


OFF FOR HELP 


197 


moon is partly clouded over and — listen to the 
thunder/’ 

‘‘Sure it isn’t the Indian drum?” asked Chot, 
rousing himself. 

“No, it’s thunder!” 

And it was — ^both boys agreed as to that. 
Chot now also saw the distant flashes. The 
wind began to sigh mournfully through the 
trees, and the moon had gone completely under 
the clouds, leaving the woods in pitchy black- 
ness. 

“If the Indians wanted to sneak up now it 
would be a good chance, ’ ’ suggested Chot in a 
low voice. 

“Yes,” Eick agreed. “I can’t see a thing! 
It’s like looking into a barrel of tar!” 

The boys were somewhat glad when Captain 
Tod came from his room, announcing that he 
would take the watch now. Not that Eick and 
Chot would not have remained on duty had it 
been necessary, but their trick was ended, and 
they were glad to turn in. 

As they dozed off they could hear the wind 
howling around the cabin and a little later the 
dashing of heavy rain against the windows and 
on the roof told that the storm had broken. 


198 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘It’s a bad night/’ muttered Captain Tod, as 
he took his place on guard duty. “I don’t be- 
lieve the Indians wiU venture out now.” 

Eick and Chot did not hear him for they had 
gone to sleep. How long they slumbered they 
did not know, but they were both suddenly 
awakened by the report of a 'shot, seeming to 
come from within the cabin. At the same time 
Buddy barked loudly, and there was a yell from 
Slither. 

“What’s the matter!” shouted Rick, leaping 
out of his bunk. 

The voice of the buck-toothed man answered ; 

‘ ‘Your uncle ’s been shot ! ’ ’ 

“Shot!” echoed Chot, joining his chum. 

They saw the skipper sitting in a chair hold- 
ing his right wrist in his left hand. Blood was 
dripping down on the floor, and the captain’s 
gun lay near a little pool of red. 

“Did they get you!” asked Eick, pointing to 
the window where fitful lightning could be 
seen. 

“No, it wasn’t the Indians. My gun slipped 
and went off by accident. I — I guess some one 
of you will have to go for a doctor,” said the 


OFF FOR HELP 


199 


skipper faintly. ‘‘The nearest one is down in 
the village, ten miles away.’^ 

“1^11 go in the motor boat!^’ offered Rick. 
‘ ‘ Chot and I ! We can run it ! ’ ’ 

“No — you canT,^’ spoke his uncle, trying not 
to show the pain he felt. “The engine is out 
of order. It’s broken, I need a new part to put 
it in shape. You’ll have to go by canoe. The 
dinghy leaks.” 

“I can paddle!” offered Rick. 

“So can I!” added Chot. 

“One of you boys better stay with me,” sug- 
gested Slither. “I can’t look after you, skip- 
per, an’ fight the Indians too, if they come back 
in th’ mornin’I One of you boys better stay 
with me!” 

“You stay, Chot ! ’ ’ suggested Rick. ‘ ‘ Ruddy 
and I will go for help! Just wait till I get 
a few more clothes on.” 

“Take your rubber coat,” murmured the in- 
jured skipper. “It’s raining cats and dogs. 
Yes, Chot had better stay here! You go for 
the doctor, Rick — ^you and Ruddy!” 


CHAPTER XX 


A WILD NIGHT 

S LIPPING- and stumbling along the wet and 
steep path that led down to the river, fol- 
lowed by the faithful Ruddy, Rick made his way 
toward the stream where floated the canoe in 
which he must make his lonely trip for the 
doctor. The storm was increasing in violence, 
with vivid flashes of lightning stabbing through 
the black trunks of trees, that glistened in the 
glare with the deluge of rain. And following 
each flash was crashing thunder which brought 
dismal howls from Ruddy, for, while he was a 
dog eminently suited for his mission in life, he 
did not care for a storm. Still he went where- 
ever Rick went. 

‘Ht is a rough night, old fellow!^’ murmured 
the lad in sympathy with his canine chum. 
^ ‘ But we can stand it, I reckon. ’ ' 

This talking, perhaps the tone of voice more 
than the words, seemed to make Ruddy feel 
better. He no longer howled at the thunder 
200 



‘‘Stumbling along the wet and steep path 
that led down to the river.’’ 



A WILD NIGHT 


201 


crashes, though at times he whined pitifully. 

‘^I^m glad I have this rubber coat,’^ thought 
Hick, as he slipped and slid along, hope 
Uncle Tod doesnT bleed to death. I ought to 
have told them about winding something around 
his arm to stop the bleeding — ^like we learned 
at the Scout meeting. But I guess Chot will 
think of that. He got his honors in first aid. 
Uncle Tod may know about it himself — or 
Slither — 

Hick came to a halt in the rain and darkness, 
shaking his head. 

‘‘You canT count on Slither he mused. 
“He’s yellow! But I guess Uncle Tod and 
Chot will know what to do. Anyhow I 
mustn’t lose any time. I’ve got to get to the 
doctor’s!” 

It was some little walk from the cabin down 
to the river where the motor boat and canoe 
were tied fast, and the way was made doubly 
long and hard in the pelting rain and in the wind 
which, at times, threatened to blow Hick off his 
feet. 

Unce, as he passed beneath a tree, there was 
an omnious crack, and the boy and his dog 
leaped aside just in time, for a big, rotten 


202 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


branoh crashed down right where they had been 
passing on the path a moment before. 

‘‘That was a lucky escape murmured Rick, 
as a flash of lightning revealed the big limb on 
the ground. 

It was so dark, except when the fitful gleams 
of sky-electrics flashed, that Rick could not 
see his way, confused as he was by being sud- 
denly awakened from a sleep, after only a short 
doze following several hours of tense vigil. 
Then, too, he was worried and alarmed over 
the mysterious Indian uprising. 

“I wonder if they 11 try to stop me from go- 
ing after help!^’ thought the boy. “If they 
have any sense, though, they 11 stay in their 
shacks on a night like this ! ^ ^ 

It was, in very truth, a wild night, and grow- 
ing wilder. As Rick stumbled along, his 
thoughts in spite of all he could do reverting to 
the possibility of an Indian attack on himself. 
Suddenly he felt his feet jerked from beneath 
him, and he fell at full length, accidentally kick- 
ing Ruddy as he went down. The dog howled. 

Rick could not restrain a yell, not exactly of 
fear but of alarm, and he tried to scramble up 
to defend himself. But a moment later, as a 


A WILD NIGHT 


203 


most vivid flash preceded a nerve-rending 
crash, he saw that he was alone in the woods. 
A piece of wild grape vine had tripped him, and 
he had fallen heavily. His alarm was need- 
less. 

‘^Well, nothing broken, ’ ^ he murmured, as he 
arose, and patted Buddy who came nosing 
around him. ‘‘That^s lucky! It wouldn^t be 
any joke to have to lie out here with a broken 
leg, while Uncle Tod was waiting for me to 
bring him help. Where is that river and canoe, 
anyhow U’ 

Well might he ask this, for he seemed all 
turned around in the woods. The path ap- 
peared to have been washed away by the torrent 
of rain that was falling, and Eick could only 
guess where it extended through the trees, 
using his previous knowledge of its location as 
a guide. 

^Hf I could hear the river I could find it 
better,’’ he said as he steadied himself against 
a tree, after arising from his tumble. 

There were rapids, foaming amid rocks not 
far from the camp, and on still nights the cease- 
less murmur of the stream was home to the 
ears of our friends. But now the patter of 


204 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


rain and the crash of thunder drowned out all 
other sounds. 

‘‘IVe just got to keep on! mused Rick. 

He was somewhat bruised and lame from his 
fall, and he had to limp slightly as he forced 
himself onward. He was wet through in spots, 
too, for the rubber coat was but scant protec- 
tion in that driving rain and whipping wind, 
flapping open every now and again. 

But Rick was of the Boy Scouts — ^not a quit- 
ter — and he had no idea of giving up. It would 
take many more hard knocks than those he had 
already received to turn him back. Besides, 
there was urgent need of getting help to Cap- 
tain Tod. Rick did not hke to remember 
the look on his uncle ^s face, nor the sight of 
that grim red pool on the cabin floor near the 
rifle. 

‘ ‘ I wonder if I am going right ? ’ ’ thought Rick 
a little later, when he had proceeded some dis- 
tance along the path, and it did not appear 
to slope downward as he knew it ought if it was 
to lead him to the stream, which was below the 
camp. ‘‘Ruddy, what about itT^ he asked the 
dog. “Whereas the river? 

5uddy came to a halt, looked back at his 


A WILD NIGHT 


205 


master, and in the next flash of lightning that 
came Hick could see the tail wagging. 

‘‘G’O on to the river, Ruddy! The riveiv— 
boat — ^fish ! Lead the way ! ’ ^ 

Rick knew he could trust to the intelligence 
of his pet. On other distressful occasions 
Ruddy had brought help, or gone for it, and, in 
a sense, the dog knew the meaning of the word 
boat. For he had often been directed to get in 
or out of one of the craft moored at the camp 
dock. And so, trusting now to Ruddy ^s pre- 
vious memory, Rick hoped the dog could lead 
the way to the river. For the senses of the set- 
ter, especially his smell, but not his sight, were 
keener than Rick^s. A dog, except perhaps in 
rare instances, has nothing like as good eye 
sight as has a man. But a dog’s keenness of 
scent is often marvelous, and his sense of direc- 
tion unfailing. 

So it was on these instincts of Ruddy that Rick 
knew he could depend. If Ruddy could only 
lead him down to the river, without too much 
delay, all might yet be well. True there was a 
long paddle to the village after the doctor, but 
Rick was not afraid of that. He knew how to 
handle a canoe, though, as he learned later, he 


206 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


underestimated the power and fury of Long 
River in a storm. 

‘^Go on, Ruddy! Go on — down to the river 
— to the boat!’’ called Rick, wiping the water 
from his face and eyes. 

With a bark of understanding. Ruddy started 
on again, Rick following as best he could. Slip- 
ping, sliding and stumbling, more than once 
falling down, bruising himself, now almost 
soaking wet but never giving up, the lad kept 
on, and finally he emerged from the darkness 
of the woods and into a clearing, whence, as 
the next flash came, he had a sight of the river. 

‘‘Now for the boat!” cried Rick. He could 
fairly well see what he was doing now, being out 
of the woods^ for the lightning came at close 
intervals, and soon he was at the dock where 
the Sallie was tied up. 

‘ ‘ Pity I can ’t take her, ’ ’ thought Rick. “ I ’^d 
like to get under some shelter. But if she’s 
bunted there’s no use trying. Now for the 
canoe. It will be faster and easier to handle 
than the dinghy.” 

He went around to the other side of the dock, 
where the smaller craft was kept, confidently 
expecting to reach down and get hold of the 


A WILD NIGHT 


207 


canoe painter. Bnt, to his surprise, the rope 
came np unresistingly in his hand. It was fast 
to no craft. 

And the next flash that came showed him the 
frayed ends of the cable. The canoe had 
broken loose in the storm ! Anxious glances up 
and down the stream showed, under the fitful 
glare of the lightning, only a deserted waste of 
bubbling, rushing, storm-tossed and rain-pelted 
water. 


CHAPTER XXI 


ANXIOUS HOUES 

R ick had no more than closed the door be- 
hind himself and Ruddy, as he let him- 
self out into the storm to go for help, than 
Captain Tod, never letting go of the bleeding 
arm where he held it with his left hand, grimly 
remarked : 

^‘Something's got to be done!^' 

To Chot it was not as alarming as might 
seem at first. He was a lad who had often 
been camping with his Boy Scout friends, and, 
more than once, there had been accidents. In- 
deed he recalled the Scout Master using these 
very words on an occasion when a member of 
the Scouting party had cut himself quite 
badly. 

“What — ^what can we doT^ faltered Mr. 
Slither. “We got to have a doctor, an^ Rick^s 
gone for him.^’ 

“Something’s got to be done before then, if 
208 


ANXIOUS HOURS 


209 


I’m not to bleed to death,” said Uncle Tod. 

‘‘I know!” cried Chot. “We’ve got to put 
one of those twisty things on your arm — a to — 
tor — 

‘ ‘ Tourniquet — that ’s it ! ” finished Captain 
Tod. “You know how to make one*?” He 
looked from one to the other of his companions, 
while the wind howled around the cabin and the 
rain beat fiercely upon it. 

“Is it^ — ^is it something you take inside — to 
stop the bleeding?” asked the buck-toothed 
man, helplessly. 

“Might have known you wouldn’t be able to 
do anything!” exclaimed the skipper contemp- 
tuously. 

“I know how to make one!” cried Chot. 

‘ ‘Mr. Taylor, our Scout Master, showed us how. 
I’ll make one!” 

Which he did, using a piece of an old shirt to 
form a wide band, that would not cut too deeply 
into the flesh of the captain’s arm. When this 
had been put in place, with a piece of wood 
wrapped in cloth to press on the severed artery, 
Chot slipped a short length of a tree branch in 
the loop of the bandage, and twisted it until the 
skipper winced with pain. 


210 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘Does it hurtr^ asked Chot in a low 
voice. 

‘‘Some. But youVe got to hurt me to save 
my life, I reckon. Twist away ! ’ ’ 

And Chot twisted until the tourniquet had 
done its work and the bleeding was almost 
checked. The power of the blood to coagu- 
late, or thicken itself, would do the rest, pro- 
vided Captain Tod remained quiet. Chot real- 
ized this, for he said: 

“You must lie down just where you are, an.d 
donT move!^^ 

“I don’t feel much like moving, just now,” 
said the skipper with a wan smile. “Lucky 
you knew how to put that bandage on. If you ’ll 
bring out another chair I can make out to rest 
here, I guess^” 

Fixing an improvised bed was something 
Slither could do, at least, and he and Chot soon 
had the captain as comfortable as possible 
under the circumstances, not daring to move 
him much. 

Then, as the storm grew worse, and it be- 
came evident that sleep was out of the question, 
even had any of the three felt capable of it, Chot 
blew up the fire and made s-ome coffee, which 


ANXIOUS HOUBS 


211 


was most grateful to all of them, particularly 
the captain. 

^‘Mighty careless of me — to shoot myself,’’ he 
said, when a little color had come back to his 
cheeks. 

‘‘How did it happen?” asked Chot. 

“Well, I reckon I must have dozed off a little 
while I was sitting there — ^waiting for the 
Indians to come back,” and Chot wondered 
whether it really happened, or whether he 
fancied he saw a ghost of a smile on the 
skipper’s face as he mentioned the Indians. 
“Anyhow,” Eick’s uncle went on, “I felt my 
gun slipping. I made a grab for it, and must 
have done something I hadn’t ought to have 
done, for she went off and the bullet tore 
through my arm.” 

“It’s a wonder it didn’t blow half your arm 
off, if you was as close to the muzzle as all 
that,” observed Slither. 

“It wasn’t a direct shot,” the captain ex- 
plained. “I was wondering, myself, why there 
weren’t powder marks on me. But I looked 
and saw that the bullet hit the stove, glanced 
back and struck me. You can see where it hit 
the stove.” 


212 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


The mark was there, plainly enough. At 
first Chot had an idea there might be something 
the captain was trying to conceal, and he dwelt 
on this for so-me moments. 

The lad had half a notion that perhaps, after 
all, some Indian might have sneaked up to the 
window, thrust his rifle in and so have fired at 
the captain seated in his chair. For there was 
the smell of powder inside the cabin when they 
rushed out following the loud report. 

But there was no break in the window, which 
had not been open, and this, with the captain ^s 
explanation, and the piece chipped off the stove, 
sufficiently explained matters. 

‘^But why did he smile when, he mentioned 
the Indians! Chot wondered. However that 
explanation was to come later. 

‘‘WeVe got to wait now for Rick to come 
back,'’ observed Mr. Tod, when the first ex- 
citement had worn away, and he was feeling 
more comfortable, though the tight tourniquet 
on his arm was painful. ‘‘He ought to be able 
to get back here with the doctor by forenoon." 

“Not before then!" asked Chot. 

“No, for it's ten miles or more, and he'll have 
his own trouble on the river in the canoe this 


ANXIOUS HOURS 


213 


night. It sure is wild ! I wish I hadn^t let hiin 
go/’ and the captain looked apprehensively 
at the windows which rattled in the fury of 
the storm’s blast. 

‘‘Oh, Eick knows how to handle a boat — 
especially a canoe,” said Chot. “He and I 
have gone out on the bay in one when it was 
rougher than this. ” 

“Yes, but there isn’t a swift current in the 
bay, as there is in the river,” objected the 
skipper. “I wish I hadn’t let him go — and 
yet—” 

He looked at Slither, but said nothing. That 
individual was taking more bread and coffee. 

“There may not be a current in the bay,” 
admitted Chot, “but there’s a tide, which is 
worse. ’ ’ 

“That’s so,” agreed the skipper more cheer- 
fully. ‘ ‘ Perhaps Eick will be all right after all. 
I hope so.” 

“Could I go anyw^here around here and get 
help?” asked Chot, after an anxious period of 
silence, broken only by the howl of the wind and 
the dash of the rain. 

“No, lad, there isn’t a doctor any nearer than 
the one Eick has gone after,” said the skipper. 


214 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘I s^pose the Indians know something about 
looking after folks that get hurt/^ suggested 
Chot. ‘‘But we couldn’t ask them now — ^when 
they’re on a rampage.” 

“No, I wouldn’t like to ask them,” said the 
captain. “They’re so dirty I might get blood 
poisoning from them, and — ” 

“Besides we wouldn’t want ’em to know how 
weakened we are — ^nobody to shoot at ’em when 
they come back at daylight but you and me, 
Chot ! ’ ’ interrupted Buck-Tooth Slither quickly. 

“Yes, that’s right,” agreed the skipper, and 
again there was that peculiar half smile on his 
face. 

What could it mean! 

“I’ll be ready for ’em when they come back 
after sun-up,” declared the partner. “I don’t 
like night fighting. But when it’s daylight I’ll 
hold my own with anybody. ’ ’ 

“Glad to hear you say that,” commented the 
skipper, dryly. 

“You — ^you called me names a while ago,” 
went on the owner of the buck teeth. “But I 
forgive you. Tod. I ’ll show you how I can fight 
when daylight comes — ^if it ever does,” he 
added whiningly. 


ANXIOUS HOURS 


215 


‘‘Oh, morning’s bound to come,” cheerfully 
said Chot. “But it won’t be light very early 
with all this storm.” 

“It’s a hum-dinger!” was -Slither ’s opinion. 
‘ ‘ Regular hum-dinger. Couldn ’t be worse ! ” 

All night long the three sat in the lonely 
cabin, while the wind increased in fury outside, 
lashing the rain against the roof and sides, 
and the vivid lightning flashed as the vi- 
brating thunder shook the very ground beneath 
them. 

“I wonder how Rick’s making out?” said 
Chot, musingly, after a period of grim silence. 

“I wonder, too,” said the skipper, softly. 

Buck-Tooth Slither took more bread and 
coffee, remarking: 

“Reckon I’ll fry a bit of bacon. I’m gettin’ 
hungry. ’ ’ 

Graually the blackness of the night faded, but 
the gray dawn was of the grayest, for the sky 
was overcast with thick clouds. The lightning 
and thunder gradually ceased, but the rain and 
wind kept up. 

Chot went to the window to look out. He 
could not see much for the glass was covered 
with pelting drops, chasing each other down 


216 


KICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


to the sill. But what he did see caused him to 
exclaim in alarm. 

‘‘Here comes Old Johnnie Green!’’ he cried. 

“The Indian?” gasped Mr. -Slither. “The 
Indians ? ’ ’ 

“Yes, and Johnnie’s got a lot more with 
him!” 

The buck-toothed man gave one howl, upset 
the pan of bacon he was frying into the open 
stove and bolted out of the back door into the 
rain. 


CHAPTER XXII 


m ROUGH WATER 


NAWARE of the events taking place back 



at Uncle Tod^s cabin, though he guessed 
his friends must be anxiously waiting for his 
return, Rick, when he looked and saw the canoe 
gone, felt a sudden, momentary sense of terror. 
What was he to do — how could he go for help 
without some craft in which to navigate the 
river? The doctor. Uncle Tod had told him, 
lived several miles down stream. Of course it 
was possible to go there by a land route, but it 
was longer, Rick did not know the way and in, 
the darkness and storm it was almost out of the 
question. 

^‘The river is my only chance. Ruddy,’’ said 
Rick, speaking to his dog as he often did. ‘ ‘But 
how can I make it without the canoe?” 

Ruddy whined in answer, and crept closer to 
his young master for shelter — and a warm 
shelter would have been a most welcome thing 


217 


218 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


to have in that storm, for though it was summer 
the rain was cold. 

‘‘There ought to be some sort of a boat 
around here,’^ mused Rick. He tried to 
remember whether there was or not, and while 
gathering his wits together — for he was still in 
a sort of daze — he crept in the lee of the motor 
boat, where, for a space, he and Ruddy were 
sheltered from the worst of the blast and rain. 

“If only you hadnT gone back on us, Sallie/^ 
spoke the boy, leaning against the cabin of the 
craft, and trying to get as much as possible 
away from the rain. ' ‘If only you had stuck to 
us I could be in you, now, going down stream in 
comfort after the doctor. The dinghy, too, 
she had to leak ! But I reckon it wais to be this 
way.’^ 

Rick was a sort of philosopher you see, 
making the best of things. 

He had half a notion, then, of getting into the 
Sallie and letting her drift down stream, since 
that was the direction in which he wanted to 
travel. There seemed to be enough current in 
the river so that with it and the wind he would 
have steerage way. 

‘ ‘ But something might happen in the rapids, ^ ^ 


IN ROUGH WATER 


219 


Rick told himself. ‘^Then I^d pile her on the 
rocks and I ’d be worse olf than I am now. I Ve 
just got to get some kind of a boat! V\l look 
along shore for a while. If the Reservation 
land only came down here, some of the Indians 
might have a boat.’^ But the remnant of the 
once powerful tribe was located some distance 
from the river, and if any of them did have a 
fishing craft on the stream the boat was 
probably so old and leaky that it would not have 
been safe to use it, Rick reasoned. 

To locate his uncle’s canoe was his only 
chance the boy thought, and with this end in 
view he started down stream, since it was 
evident that when the canoe broke loose in the 
storm it would be borne downward. 

But Rick had only gone a short distance away 
from the partial shelter of the SaMie than he 
turned back, and, speaking to Ruddy, he said; 

“Might as well take the paddles with me. If 
I do manage to find the canoe I won’t have to 
come back for them. I’ll just pretend I’m 
surely going to locate that canoe. Maybe it 
will bring me luck ! ” 

Rick was also a sort of optimist you see, as 
well as a philosopher. 


220 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


The canoe paddles were kept hidden under the 
dock, and it did not take Rick long to dig them 
out from among the leaves and forest rubbish 
that was generally tossed over them better to 
screen them from prying eyes. Then with the 
two broad blades under his arm (he took two 
for fear one might break if he was so lucky as 
to get started) he again began his tramp 
through the storm. 

‘‘Of course there are just as many chances 
that the canoe will lodge on the other side of 
the river as on my side,'’ thought Rick, as he 
fought his way through the driving rain and 
fierce wind along the camp bank of the now 
turbulent stream. ‘ ‘ But the current sets in this 
way, IVe heard Uncle Tod say, and maybe the 
canoe will be caught in some eddy and lodged on 
shore where I can get it. I hope so, anyhow. ' ' 

The thunder and lightning seemed to be 
getting less now, though there were no signs of 
the storm abating. However Rick was thank- 
ful for this small favor, since the flashing of the 
lightning, while it gave too much light for short 
intervals, made it twice as dark the next, when 
the flash died away, and Rick was con- 


IN BOUGH WATER 


221 


tiliually stepping into mud holes or bruising 
himself against trees and stumps. 

“If it would quit my eyes would get used to 
the dark and I could get along better, ’ ^ the boy 
reflected. 

So he was glad when the sky artillery finally 
ceased, and he could walk on in the rain, the 
wind and darkness. But, as he had said, his 
eyes becoming accustomed to the blackness 
were now of better service to him, even though 
it was as murky as the inside of a tar barrel. 

Every now and then, as he progressed along 
the river bank, (at times actually stumbling 
into shallow parts of the stream where the 
sudden deluge had caused it to overflow its 
banks,) Eick stooped down and looked for the 
canoe. It was a bit lighter over the water than 
on shore and he thought he might see the out- 
lines of the stranded craft against the river line. 

But for an hour or more he stumbled on with- 
out any success, though more than once he felt 
his heart beating faster as he thought he caught 
a glimpse of the craft. Once it was a dead tree 
that had floated down the river and lodged 
against the bank. Another time it actually was 


222 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


a boat, but one stove in, and so broken that to 
use it was out of the question. 

All the while the wind howled around him, the 
rain beat in his face and he was all but com- 
pletely soaking wet, for the rain coat blew open 
at times, letting in the driving rain blown as it 
was by twisting gusts of wind. 

Still Rick had not the faintest idea of giving 
up, and Ruddy, though at times he whined to 
show that he did not at all like this wild outing, 
kept close to his master. 

^‘We^U get there sometime or other, old 
dogU’ stoutly declared the boy. 

And Ruddy barked his delight at hearing 
Rick’s voice. For there is nothing dogs like 
better than being talked to. They want human 
companionship and to hear human voices as 
much as does a homesick exile on a desert is- 
land. 

And then, just when Rick was about to give 
up, and when he was beginning to think he had 
better strike inland, search out some farm house 
if he could find one and beg for help, luck un- 
expectedly turned his way. He came to a cove 
in the river — a cove where a deep eddy set in 
— and as this was, he felt, a most likely place 


IN ROUGH WATER 


223 


for the drifting canoe to have lodged, he made 
a more careful search than usual. 

There came a lull in the storm — a moment 
when, the wind seemed to die away and the rain 
to cease its pelting drive — and Rick saw, 
tangled in a mass of underbrush on shore, the 
outline of what could he nothing else but a 
canoe. 

“I hope it isn^t busted he cried as he made 
his way toward it. 

It was not easy work to drag the canoe closer 
to him through the tangle of tree branches and 
bushes, but at last he managed it, and having 
turned the craft over, to empty out the water, 
he was delighted to find that it was sound, as 
far as he could tell in the darkness. 

^^If she leaks ITl just have to bail, that^s all 
— with my cap,’^ mused Rick. He placed the 
paddles in the bottom, called to Ruddy to get in, 
took his place on the after seat of the frail craft 
and pushed off with one foot over the side. 

‘H^ll need to keep the bow as much out of 
water as I can, for the river sure is rough,’’ 
reflected the boy, as he dug the paddle in and 
swung out into the stream. 

And it was not until he was well out toward 


224 


mCK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


the middle, and away from the comparatively 
-peaceful eddy, that he realized the full force of 
the storm and the turbulence of the stream to 
which he had trusted himself and his dog. 

But there was no turning back. He must go 
on to bring help to Uncle Tod. 

Rick^s life in a seacoast town had taught him 
more about boats and their management than 
most boys of his age would have known. And 
so, though he was a bit frightened when he saw 
how rough was the water, and when he felt the 
full force of the wind, it was only for a moment 
that he had any fear. Then his Boy Scout 
training, and his own sturdy character, to- 
gether with the presence of Ruddy in the canoe 
with him, gave him back his courage. 

I think, even in the utmost danger, any one is 
better for having a dog with him for a dog 
seems to know and understand, and, at times, 
almost to talk to one. He stands by you to the 
last, if he is any kind of a dog at all ; and Ruddy 
was in this class. 

‘‘WeVe got our work cut out for us, old 
fellow!^’ said Rick to his dog, as the canoe 
dipped up and down in the current, a foam- 
crested wave, showing dirty white in the dark- 


IN ROUGH WATER 


225 


ness, now and then slapping against the up- 
raised bow and spilling some of the river inside 
the craft. 

If the wind had been blowing in the same 
direction as that in which the river was flowing 
Rick’s voyage in the canoe would not have been 
so risky. But the gale blew up stream and the 
current was dead against it, so that with the 
wind catching his body, as if it had been a sail, 
Rick lost the advantage the current would have 
otherwise have given him, and he actually had 
to paddle down stream to make progress. 

Normally there was not much of a current in 
this part of Long River, though it flowed swiftly 
enough in the narrow gorge where the ugly 
rocks raised their black masses up through the 
white water. And as he thought of this stretch 
Rick felt a bit uneasy. Still his luck might 
hold. 

The village toward which he was now headed, 
where the nearest doctor lived, was just below 
this stretch of rapids, and Rick was almost 
tempted to go ashore before reaching the 
danger spot to perform the rest of the journey 
on foot. 

^‘But I’ll lose time if I try that,” he told him- 


226 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


self. ‘‘I reckon I can make the rapids. IVe 
steered the Sallie through them more than once. 
Of course a canoe is different, but IVe got to 
take the chance. 

Through the darkness and storm he guided 
the frail canoe, and once, when he reached a 
quiet stretch of water he had to stop and bail, 
for there was so much of the river water and 
rain aboard that the canoe was getting loggy. 
Then he went on again, now and then speaking 
an encouraging word to Ruddy, who whined in 
answer. 

Gradually morning came, though Rick hardly 
recognized the daylight so dense and gray was 
it. The wind and rain still kept up, and then 
there gradually was borne to the ears of the lad 
a roaring sound. 

“The rapids he exclaimed. “Now I’m in 
for it! -Stick by me. Ruddy!” 

He need have no fear — ^Ruddy would stick ! 

A moment later Rick was fighting his way 
through rough water. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


WBECKED 

R ick had not been battling bis course 
tbrougb the rapids of Long River more 
than, a few minutes, in that stress of wind and 
weather, when be felt that be bad made a 
mistake in trying to pass through this stretch of 
rough water. As the somewhat uncertain light 
of the morning grew through the storm, he 
could see, just below him, the small village 
where he expected to get the doctor. 

‘^And I hope he has an auto that’s in working 
order,” thought Rick, as he desperately grasped 
his paddle and dug it in. ‘‘We never can 
navigate up the river, and a horse and wagon 
will be too slow over land. I do hope he has 
an auto!” 

It was the first time since he had started that 
he had given anxious thought to actually getting 
back to Uncle Tod with medical aid. Up to now 
he had been fighting the elements so con- 
tinuously that they occupied all his attention. 
227 


228 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


You who live in the cities, with telephones on 
every hand, by which magic you may summon 
aid of all sorts, have no idea how desperate is 
sometimes the case in country districts that are 
sparsely settled. Of course many country 
places have telephones, or there are autos avail- 
able, but at Long River camp there were none of 
these things. Rick had to fight his way unaided. 

And a hard battle he knew it was going to be 
as soon as he felt himself within the grip of the 
pulling, white water of the rapids. The wind 
had died out a little, though it was raining ars 
bard as ever, and almost the full force of the 
swift stream, swollen as it was by hundreds of 
brooks pouring their overflow into it, was acting 
to drive the canoe onward. 

‘‘iVe got to try to work her toward shore,’’ 
thought Rick, as he saw himself nearing the 
village. The town appeared to be deserted. 
None of the inhabitants were up this early, or, 
if any were, they kept to their homes. 

But when Rick tried to guide his craft over 
toward the nearest river bank, on his left, he 
found that it was impossible. Paddle as he did 
— ^and of course he had not the strength of a 
man — ^he could make no progress. He was in 


WRECKED 


229 


the middle of the current and it was bearing 
him straight onward in its rush. 

Up and down bobbed the canoe, and Ruddy, 
though a dog of the sea, looked at his master in 
silent reproach. It was as though he accusingly 
asked what wrong he had done to be brought on 
this rough, wet voyage. 

Tough work, old scout!’’ cried Rick to 
Ruddy, gritting his teeth as he paddled hard. 
‘‘Tough work but we’ve got to do it !” 

He was opposite the small village now, dimly 
seen through the mist of the rain, and he was no 
nearer the river bank than before. He hoped 
there was some eddy into which he could guide 
his craft, but he remembered none. 

“If only somebody would come out and help 
— throw me a rope or get a motor boat an.d come 
after me,” thought poor Rick. “Then I could 
get ashore. But I guess I’m not going to 
make it! I’ll have to land away below the 
rapids and walk back ! ’ ’ 

And as the water became rougher, and all his 
paddling seemed to have no effect, Rick began 
to think he would be very lucky if he did land, 
several miles below the village where the doctor 
lived. 


230 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


He scanned the rain-swept shore, hut saw 
only a few small boats, none large enough to 
have come to his rescue. Doubtless the rapids 
were not so rough in calm weather, and could 
be more easily navigated. 

wonder if I could make them hear me if I 
called r’ mused the boy. ‘‘I’m going to try!” 

He raised his voice in a shout, and to this 
Ruddy added his barks, but the noise of the 
storm must have carried the calls for help 
across the stream, away from the town, for no 
one answered. 

Amd now a new danger or, rather, a series of 
them presented themselves to Rick. These 
were the black rocks of the river, some of them 
all but hidden by the foaming water. Others 
reared their black lengths high enough to be 
seen and avoided by a turn of the paddle, but 
more were submerged, and twice Rick felt the 
canoe bottom scrape over them with an 
omnious, grinding sound that made his breath 
gasp. 

“If I hit a sharp one the canoe bottom will be 
ripped out — and then — good night!” grimly 
thought the boy. Still he fought on — he was 
not the kind to give up. 


WRECKED 


231 


He resolved that his best chance lay in 
guiding the canoe clear of the rocks until it 
should reach quieter water so he might paddle 
ashore below the town. 

With this end in view he gave no further 
thought to trying to reach the shore near the 
village. He gave his whole attention to keep- 
ing his craft otf the rocks. 

It was getting lighter now, though the storm 
seemed to be just as furious as when it had 
started. But the increased light enabled Rick 
to see more plainly. He peered through the 
mist of rain, now and then dashing the moisture 
from his eyes, and by an occasional dip of the 
paddle changing the course of the canoe to fend 
it off from some rock toward which he was born 
with great speed. 

Several times he just scraped past jagged 
black stones, like the broken fangs of some wild 
beast reaching up to grasp him, canoe, dog and 
all. And three times more he felt that ominous 
rubbing sensation along the canoe bottom which 
told of her sliding over some flat, submerged 
boulder. 

And then, after being swirled around a 
sudden turn in the river, the change in direction 


232 


EICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


nearly swamping his frail craft, Eiok saw that 
he was headed straight toward a small, rocky 
island in mid-stream. 

‘^There’s going to be trouble!^’ mused the 
boy. ‘ ‘ The current is sure to be swifter there, 
for the river is narrowed by the island. Guess 
1^11 try to pass to the left — seems a bit wider 
there. 

He was now caught in the grip of a faster 
current, being headed straight for jagged rocks 
that, with some stunted trees and vines, made 
up the little island. And, following his decision 
to pass on the left side of the obstruction, Rick 
tried to urge his craft in that direction. 

But here his luck seemed to desert him. He 
was working desperately, and felt that he was 
about to pass the island, when the broad paddle 
blade snapped just where his left hand grasped 
it. 

‘‘Busted!’’ cried Rick, as he tossed over- 
board the shattered pieces. “Lucky I brought 
two !” 

He reached back to get the spare paddle but, 
as he did so, a sudden shift in the wind, and a 
cross current, swept his craft directly upon the 


WRECKED 


233 


jagged rocks that formed the upper apex of the 
island. 

An instant later Eick and Buddy were thrown 
out into the water as the canoe, split in twain, 
was completely wrecked on the rocks. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


THE OWL-HEADED ROOSTBE 

R ICK^S first effort, once he found himself 
in the water, was to rid himself of the 
rubber coat. It was like trying to swim with a 
bed quilt on his shoulders to attempt progress 
in it. Several times when, he had been paddling 
Rick had removed the rubber garment in order 
to use his arms more freely in bailing. And 
then, as he felt cold and chilly, he had put it on 
again, though it was now little protection 
against the rain, for he had become soaked soon 
after leaving the cabin. 

And, even as he slipped out of the coat, and 
watched it lodge on some of the island rocks, 
the lad’s mind went back, in a flash, to Uncle 
Tod and those he had left to go and seek help. 

Guess he’ll think I’m never coming back,” 
mused Rick, as he struck out after his first im- 
mersion, when a quick glance showed Ruddy 
also swimming toward the island, not far dis- 
tant. 


234 


THE OWL-HEADED ROOSTER '235 

‘‘And I don’t see how I’m going to get any 
help now,” thought poor Rick, as parts of the 
broken canoe floated past him. “But I guess 
I’m lucky to be alive. Where are you. Ruddy? ” 
he called, losing sight of his companion for a 
moment. 

There was a bark and a whine, and Ruddy 
climbed out on the shore — a most inhospitable 
shore it seemed, for there was no sign of habi- 
tation on the island. 

Rick followed his pet a moment later, and 
there stood boy and dog, tired, exhausted and 
dripping wet, while the rain continued to pour 
down most pitilessly on them. 

“Well, we can’t stay here,” said Rick at last, 
as he wrung as much water as he could from 
his short coat, so that it would not be such a 
dragging weight on his shoulders. Then, see- 
ing the rubber garment he had worn, caught on 
a rock near shore, Rick waded out a short dis- 
tance and brought it back with him. “Maybe 
it will come in useful, ’ ’ he said. 

He had seen, several times before, the island 
on which he and Ruddy were now wrecked, for 
they had often passed it on trips up and down 
Long River in the Sallie, Rliddy knew it was 


236 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


not inhabitated, though there were one or two 
old shacks on it, where campers and fishermen 
sometimes stayed over night. 

‘‘And maybe I’ll find some of them here 
now,” thought the lad. 

Then another idea came to him. He knew 
the river broadened out just below the island, 
where the rapids came to an end, and he had a 
notion he could swim, across to the shore there, 
make his way back to the village, and summon 
the doctor for Uncle Tod. 

With this end in view he and his dog started 
to walk the length of the narrow collection of 
rocks, earth, trees and bushes that made up 
Pickerel Island, as it was called from its resem- 
blance to that fish. 

As Rick expected, there was no one in the 
two shacks he visited, but in one he found an 
old coffee pot and some ground coffee. There 
was an ancient stove in the shack, and, by the 
greatest of good fortune, some wood — ^pieces of 
a packing box — that were comparatively dry. 

“A fire and some hot coffee will put me in 
shape for a swim,” mused Rick. 

As a Boy Scout he had a water-proof match 
box which he always carried, and it was no 


THE OWL-HEADED ROOSTER 


237 


very difficult task to set some wood aglow in 
the old range. He then put the ground coffee 
in some water he dipped up at the river ^s edge 
in the rather leaky pot, and soon was enjoying 
a hot cup of the beverage which, to the half -ex- 
hausted lad, was the best breakfast he had tas- 
ted in many a day, as he said afterward. There 
were a few dishes in the shack, but of course no 
milk or sugar. Eick took his coffee plain, and 
was glad to get it. 

‘Hf only I had something for you. Ruddy!’’ 
he said regretfully. 

But Ruddy could forage for himself, and this 
is just what he did, with the result that he un- 
earthed a bone from a heap of refuse in one 
comer of the shack. Then, lying near the 
warm fire. Ruddy gnawed his breakfast, while 
Rick took more coffee. 

The lad wished he might have remained in 
the shack long enough to have dried his gar- 
ments, but he knew the need of haste, and only 
waiting long enough to get somewhat warmed 
after his cheering drink, he and the dog fared 
forth again toward the lower end of the island. 

‘^Well, there’s only one thing to do — swim 
for it,” decided Rick, as he gazed across the 


238 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


lonely mainland on either shore, and saw no 
sign of boat, habitation or other signs of help. 
‘‘Ill swim over and walk back to the village to 
get the doctor.’’ 

Rick stripped himself of his coat, trousers 
and shoes. Then, clad in his light underwear, 
with his cap and other garments wrapped in the 
rubber coat, he looked about for a log, or piece 
of wood, to which he might tie his ‘‘baggage” 
in order to ferry it across. 

“I think I’ll have you tow it. Ruddy,” he 
announced. 

He found a piece of drift wood, bound the 
rubber coat with his clothing inside it to the 
broken plank, using some trailing wild grape 
vine as cords, and then, with a longer piece 
of vine as a rope, he hitched Ruddy to the im- 
provised raft. 

‘ ‘ All aboard ! In we go ! ” cried Rick, plung- 
ing into the stream, after setting the laden 
driftwobd craft afloat. Ruddy followed his 
master, towing the lad’s garments. It did not 
matter that the water washed over them at 
times, for they were wet through anyhow. 

Rick was glad he did not have to swim 
through the rapids, for he was so tired from 


THE OWL-HEADED ROOSTER 


289 


his night of storm and effort that he felt he 
would not have been equal to the task. As it 
was, the waters below the island were quiet, 
though higher than usual, and after a not very 
hard swim, Rick and Ruddy landed on shore. 

It was still raining hard, though not as cold 
as it had been during the night, but it was far 
from warm as Rick struggled and wiggled his 
way into his wet garments and put the rubber 
coat over them. He rather envied Ruddy, 
who had but to shake himself to get rid of 
most of the water that clung to his reddish 
coat. 

“Well, let’s go!” called Rick, when he had 
dressed himself. 

Again they were on their way, their legs 
forming a more certain means of locomotion 
than had the canoe, though the effort was more 
tiring than paddling, or being carried along by 
the current. 

Rick and Ruddy had landed in a lonely place, 
entirely out of sight of any human habitation. 
But a short distance from the river they 
reached a road that, except for the effects of 
the present storm, showed evidences of having 
been well traveled. 


240 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘‘I guess this will take us back to the village/^ 
said Rick aloud, as he and his dog tramped 
along it. ‘‘I hope so, anyhow.’^ 

Ruddy whined in understanding sympathy, 
and splashed along through the mud puddles 
beside his master. The hot coffee had given 
Rick new strength, and he was almost ready to 
whistle a tune when, as he neared a turn in the 
road, he suddenly heard the loud crowing of a 
rooster. 

‘‘Must be a house just ahead!’’ joyfully cried 
Rick, but when he rounded the turn all he saw 
was a large enclosed auto truck, or van, rum- 
bling slowly along, having evidently just started 
off after a stop. And, to Rick’s surprise the 
crow, sounding again, came from the van. 

“Some farmer taking a load of chickens to 
market,” thought the boy. “He’ll give «ne a 
lift ! I say there I Wait a minute ! ” he shouted 
as loudly as he could. And Ruddy, adding 
his bark to the boy’s shouts helped make suffi- 
cient noise so that the driver of the van heard 
them. He stopped his vehicle, looked around 
from his sheltered seat in, front, and then Rick 
gave a joyful cry. 


THE OWL-HEADED ROOSTER 


241 


^‘Mr. Driscoll!’^ exclaimed the lad. ‘‘Mr. 
Driscoll!’’ 

“Rick and Ruddy!” was the response. 
“What in the world are you doing here?” 

“I’m after a doctor!” hurriedly explained 
Rick. “Uncle Tod shot himself by accident. 
We were going to he attacked by the Indians!” 

“Indians!” gasped Hokum Driscoll. “In- 
dians ! ’ ’ He looked as incredulous as his voice 
sounded. 

“ Yes, ” Rick explained. ‘ ‘ Old J ohnnie Green 
and some of his gang started to beat the war 
drum and went on a rampage. I came down in. 
a canoe to get a doctor for Uncle Tod, but I 
was wrecked on the island and had to swim to 
shore. Take me to the village as fast as you 
can. ’ ’ 

‘ ‘ Of course ! ’ ’ agreed the freak showman. ‘ ‘ I 
just had to change a tire, or you wouldn ’t have 
caught me. Your Uncle Tod shot himself; eh? 
Bad?” 

“I don’t know — ^it bled a lot. Chot and Mr. 
Shther are with my uncle.” 

“WTio’s Slither?” 

“Uncle Tod’s partner, but they don’t get 


242 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


along very well, ’ ’ remarked Rick, as he climbed 
up to the seat of the covered van, and helped 
Ruddy to -a place beside them. ‘‘What are you 
doing he asked Mr. Driscoll. 

“Collecting freaks, I^m going to start my 
show soon.’’ 

Again came that loud crow, from the interior 
of the van behind Rick. 

‘ ‘ What ’s that ? ’ ’ asked the lad. ” “ Have you 
— ^that can’t be Esmeralda!” 

“One of my best freaks,” was the showman’s 
smiling answer. “An owl-headed rooster! 
You ought to see him!” 


CHAPTEE XXV 


UNCLE tod’s VICTORT 

J UST as lie was about to reply, repeating the 
words ‘^owl-headed rooster,” Eick felt a 
sudden plucking at his shoulder. He turned 
his head to be confronted with a sight that 
made him slide to the far end limit of the 
seat where he was riding. 

For, gazing at him through a ventilating hole 
in the front end of the van, was what seemed to 
be the head of an owl, with a ruffle of feathers 
and two queer feathery tufts that looked like 
ears. And as the owl head looked at Eick with 
yellow-rimmed eyes, the strong, pointed beak 
made another dig for his shoulder. Then came 
a loud crow that nearly deafened Eick, so near 
to his ear was it. 

“Good land!” yelled the boy, as Euddy 
barked in surprise. “What in — ” 

“There he is! My owhheaded rooster!” 
laughed Mr. Driscoll. 

And it was that freak fowl that had nipped 

243 


244 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Rick. A second look only seemed to bear out 
more strongly the illusion of an owl, even if the 
rooster ^s eyes, though of abnormal size, were 
not quite as large, nor as perfectly round as 
those of an owl. 

“Where did you get himT’ asked Rick, as 
again the odd fowl made another attempt to 
pick at him, failing in which, it crowed again. 

“Oh, I heard that one of the farmers in this 
section had such a freak and I came after it,’^ 
said Mr. Driscoll. “This isn.T the one 
advertised in the Billboard, but another. “ I Ve 
bought this auto van for just this sort of work 
— ^collecting freaks.’^ 

“Pretty big for just a lone rooster; isn’t it?” 
asked Rick. 

“Oh, I’ve got a five-legged cow inside,” 
answered the showman. “I had to give her 
plenty of room.” 

“A five-legged cowl” exclaimed the lad. 

“Yes, and she’s a fine ballyhoo — ^better even, 
than Tweedledum and Tweedledee, though 
those porcupines will draw good money. All 
I need now is a two headed alligator, but I don’t 
want a fake one, and that’s the only kind I’ve 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


245 


come across so far. The cow, though, is 
genuine.’’ 

That she was alive was evidenced a moment 
later, for there came a loud ‘‘moo” from the 
interior of the van, mingling with the crowing 
of the owl-headed rooster, and producing a 
unique, traveling barnyard effect. 

“I’ll soon open my show, thanks to the start 
you and your uncle gave me, ’ ’ said Mr. Driscoll. 
“But I won’t delay any further now, though 
there is a wild oat that some one has for sale 
just outside this town, we’re coming to. You 
want to get that doctor, I reckon.” 

“I sure do!” declared Rick. “Uncle Tod 
was bleeding badly when I left. The only 
doctor for miles around hves here. I hope he ’s 
home!” 

“If he’s wise he won’t go* far from it in a 
storm like this,” said Mr. Driscoll, with grim 
humor. 

“Could you take him and me back — and 
Ruddy too — ^in this autof” asked Rick, de- 
termining on this bold request after a moment’s 
thought. “That is if the doctor hasn’t a car of 
his />wn. 


246 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


“Sure I could declared Hokum Driscoll, 
aimed to do that!’^ 

And when the doctor’s home was reached he 
readily agreed to go back in the big van auto, 
for his own was not running any toyo well he 
said, though it was of a make universally used, 
and scarcely ever laid up. 

^‘But don’t you want to stay here at my house 
and get dried out?” the physician asked Rick, 
when he saw what state the boy was in. ‘‘My 
wife will look after you — and your dog,” he 
added with a smile. 

“Thank you, no, I’d better go back to Uncle 
Tod,” said Rick. “And hadn’t we better take 
some officers along, or police with guns. Those 
Indians — ” 

“Nonsense!” laughed Dr. Scott. “Old 
Johnnie Green and his whole tribe never 
intended any harm! They may have been 
doing one of their ceremonial dances, but they 
never raise a ruction or go on a rampage. ’ ’ 

“They beat the war drum though!” cried 
Rick. “Uncle Tod said so!” 

“Then I think he was trying to get up some 
excitement for your amusement,” declared the 
physician. “I know Johnnie Green and his 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


247 


‘kick um hard — two bits !’ I Ve known him for 
years. Depend on it, there was never any real 
danger ! ^ ^ 

Then Rick remembered the queer smile on his 
un.cle’s face. Did this explain it? 

“Well, anyhow. Uncle Tod is shot!’’ the boy 
said. 

“I haven’t any doubt but what that’s real 
enough,” gravely admitted Dr. Scott, “and 
we ’ll fix him up as soon as we can. But those 
Indians — don’t worry about them! Give ’em 
a good feed and they’d leave the war path in a 
moiment — ^that is if they were ever on it ; which 
I very much doubt.” 

And certainly there was no evidence of any 
Indian uprising when the big auto, splashing 
through the storm, finally reached Long River 
Camp with Rick and Ruddy, Dr. Scott, Mr. 
Driscoll and his two freaks. On the ride the 
showman explained to Rick that the Pet had 
been left several miles down the river while the 
freak-collecting trip inland was made by van. 

Up to the cabin hurried Rick and Ruddy, 
followed by the others. As they neared the 
door it opened and Chot came out, relief 
sihowing on his face. 


248 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


How’s Uncle Todf” anxiously cried Rick. 

‘^He’s asleep,” whispered Chot. ‘‘We 
stopped the bleeding and it didn’t start up 
again. But I guess he needs the doctor all 
right.” 

They entered the cabin, the skipper 
awakening at their entrance. 

“Hello, Rick,” he murmured, rather sleepily, 
but in stronger tones than he had used directly 
after the accident. “Sorry I made you such a 
lot of work by my carelessness.” 

“Oh, I didn’t mind,” said Rick, though he 
was dead tired and still very wet. 

“Where’s Slither ?” asked Rick, when the 
doctor had examined the captain’s arm and pro- 
nounced the wound not as serious as had been 
feared. He soon had it bandaged, the bullet 
easily having been extracted. “Where’s 
Slither?” 

“Oh, he skipped out when Johnnie Green and 
the Indians came back beating the drum,” 
answered Chot with a laugh, and Rick wondered 
at this laugh as he asked : 

“Did the Indians come back?” 

“^Sure they came back,” chuckled Captain 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


249 


Tod, who was feeling much better now. They 
came hack just as I told them to. ^ ’ 

‘^You told them to!’’ gasped Rick, and he 
noticed that Chot seemed to be in the amazing 
secret — for amazing it was when the skipper 
made that admission. 

^‘Yes, I might as well tell the story, now that 
everything has come about the way I wanted it 
to, and Slither has cleared out,” went on the 
captain. There never was any Indian up- 
rising, it was only a fake ; and I even supplied 
the war drum — at least the skin heads for it, 
since the old ceremonial dance drum Johnnie 
Green owned for years was broken.” 

‘^You — ^you did that?” faltered Rick, hardly 
able to believe it. 

^^Yes, and I hope I didn’t scare you lads any 
more than was needed,” went on the skipper 
with another laugh, as he eased his bandaged 
arm. ‘‘I reckon I got the worst of the joke, 
too, with this bullet,” he said. ‘^But it had 
just the effect on Slither I intended it to have 
— it made him skip.” 

^‘When did he go?” asked Rick. 

‘■‘Just about daybreak, when the Indians came 
back. I told them to come about then, though 


250 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


I expected to be in shape to receive them my- 
self. I didn’t figure on my gun going off when 
I was asleep. That was my own fault. I 
shouldn’t have left a load in — I didn’t mean 
to. But things don’t always work out the way 
you want them to.” 

Rick looked from his uncle to the others, 
surprise showing on the lad’s face. He did not 
yet get more than a glimmer of what it was all 
about, and he had a faint suspicion that his 
relative might still be out of his mind — insane 
as Rick had feared more than once. 

Captain Tod must have guessed what was 
passing in his nephew’s thoughts for with a 
chuckle he said : 

^‘I’m not crazy, Rick, though, as I said, crazy 
is as crazy does. And I purposely acted a bit 
crazy at times, to get Slither properly worked 
up.” 

‘‘What was the trouble between youf ” asked 
Rick, feeling that now an explanation would be 
made. And it came. 

“Nick Slither is a rascal — nothing else,” 
declared Captain Tod. ‘ ‘ I made a mistake ever 
to be partners with him, out west as well as 
here. But once I was in I couldn’t very easily 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


251 


get out. While we were out west together we 
happened to save the life of a man named 
Harrison. He died soon after and he wanted 
to do something for us, so he practically left up 
this tract of land here on Long River, asking 
only a very small sum of money. Or, rather, 
he left it to me, but on account of my partner- 
ship with Slither that rascal claimed half 
interest in the land here, and he wasn^t entitled 
to it, for I supplied the cash. At most Slither 
was entitled to only a share in a small tract. 
The main, land, which was the most valuable, 
came to me. As a matter of fact it was I who 
saved the life of Old Man Harrison, and not 
•Slither at all, but he stuck around. 

‘‘Well, I was so tangled with Slither that I 
couldnT get out. I knew a lawsuit would be 
long and costly, and so I hit on the scheme of 
driving him away from a place where he had no 
right to be. And he had no legal or moral right 
here or a share in my land. The plan I decided 
on, even before I came to your place, Rick, to 
buy a boat, was an Indian uprising. 

“I had known Old Johnnie Green for years, 
and when I told him what I wanted he agreed to 
it. He and some of his old-time followers 


252 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


staged the fake attack on our cabin, using the 
skin heads I gave them to make a new ceremo- 
nial dance drum/^ 

Now Rick understood what had become of the 
toy drum his uncle had threatened to learn to 
play. 

‘I was scared^’’ admitted Chot. “I surely 
was!^’ 

‘‘So was I,’’ said Rick. 

“But Slither was the most scared of all,” 
chuckled the skipper, “and that^s as I in- 
tended it. He surely thought he was going 
to be scalped. Ha ! Ha ! Why Johnnie Green 
wouldn’t hurt a mosquito unless it stung him. 
And when I saw how things were going I played 
the game as I wanted to. After you hoys had 
gone to bed I so worked on Slither ’s feelings 
that he said he ’d clear out and leave the place to 
me to defend if the Indians came hack — as I 
knew they would for I told them to. 

“So I got Slither to sign a paper to that 
effect, giving up all his so-called partnership 
claim on this place, though, as a matter of fact 
he was never entitled to it. But I took that way 
of getting rid of him instead of going to law. 
It was cheaper and quicker for both of us. You 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


253 


should have seen him skedaddle when Johnnie 
Green and his Indian friends came back toward 
morning ! ” he chuckled. 

‘‘He went out the back door on the run/^ said 
Chot. 

“Everything worked as I intended it to,” 
went on the skipper, “excepting me getting 
shot. That was what you’d call an added at- 
traction,” he said to the showman. “You see 
I forgot about the guns being loaded, even when 
I let Eick and Chot have ’em to stand guard, 
when no guard was needed. And then, after 
I’d got Slither to sign that paper, when you 
were -asleep,” and he looked at the two boys, “I 
happened to remember about the loads in the 
guns. 

“I had dozed off and awoke with a start as I 
thought of the needless danger I might have put 
you lads in from the rifles, and as my gun 
-slipped I made a grab for it, and got shot. 
Served me right, maybe, for trying to be too 
smart. But I’m glad it was no worse.” 

“Indeed you got out of it luckily,” said Dr. 
Scott 

“But tell us what happened to you, Eick,” 
urged the skipper, when all these surprising de- 


254 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


tails had been made clear to the master of 
Ruddy. 

‘^Oh, I had my own troubles/’ laughed the 
boy. ‘^But I got there at last.” 

“You generally do,” complimented Chot. 

I had known what you were going 
through I’d have blamed myself a lot more than 
I did,” said the captain. ought never to 
have tried this way of getting rid of Slither. I 
should have stuck to my first plan. ’ ’ 

‘^What was that!” asked Rick. 

‘‘Well, I was going to pretend that I was 
clean gone crazy — out of my head. I knew 
Slither was mortally afraid of an insane person, 
and I figured that when he thought his partner 
was looney he’d quit — as he has done now. 
That’s what I meant when you heard me saying 
crazy is as crazy does,” the captain explained 
to Rick. “I planned to act crazy. Maybe that 
was foolish, and I’m glad I didn’t. The fake 
Indian uprising was better. 

“Oh, by the way, Rick,” he went on “there’s 
a letter of yours in my pocket. It dropped out 
when I was fixing the paper for Slither to sign, 
giving up his partnership here — a partnership 
he never was entitled to.” 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


255 


‘‘A letter of iniiie!’^ repeated Rick, wonder- 
ingly. 

‘^Well, one you gave me to mail some time 
ago, but it got down in the lining of my coat, 
and I never knew it until last night,’’ said 
Captain Tod. 

He pointed to the shelf over the stove, and 
Rick saw the letter he had written to his father 
suggesting the idea that Captain Tod might be 
insane. Rick was glad, now, that the letter had 
not gone. He took it down and destroyed it. 

‘^Well, I guess this is about all,” went on the 
skipper. ‘H’m much obliged to you, doctor, 
and to you, Mr. Driscoll. Of course what Rick 
did—” 

‘Ht wasn’t anything!” interrupted the lad. 
‘H’d do it again.” 

“I know you would,” said his uncle, ‘‘but I’m 
hoping there’ll be no need. Slither will never 
come back. Old Johnnie Green has him too 
frightened. Poor Old Johnnie Green, with his 
‘kick um hard — two bits!’ Well, now that 
Slither is gone, I can go ahead and develop this 
place. ’ ’ 

“Develop it!” exclaimed Dr. Scott. “What 
in the world is there up here to develop!” 


256 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


‘^Salt!’’ was the captain’s unexpected and 
short answer. ‘‘Salt! This land is filled with 
it, under the surface. It was specimens of salt 
rock, and the chemist’s analyzing report, with 
my deeds and papers, that I had in the brass 
bound box,” he explained to the boys. “I 
found the rocks down in a shaft where, maybe 
a hundred years ago, the Indians had dug for 
the white salt crystals. I had the salt analyzed 
by a chemist when I was on the trip I made to 
your place,” he told Rick. “There’s acres of 
salt under my land here, and I’m going to de- 
velop it. Slither had no rightful claim to it, but 
I would have had trouble proving it in a court of 
law. Now he’s out of the way for good and all 
I can go ahead.” 

“Salt?” exclaimed Dr. Scott. “Salt around 
here?” 

“Yes, of the very best kind. I think it will 
pay better to pump water down into the rock 
salt deposits and pump up the saturated 
solution of brine than to mine for the crystals. 
You’ll see salt wells here soon,” the skipper 
predicted. 

And that is just what came to pass. The 
captain’s surmise was right, for it was found 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


257 


cheaper to obtain the salt in this way than to 
mine for the dry crystals. And soon not only 
his land, but other tracts around there, includ- 
ing some on the Indian reservation, were dotted 
with derricks which bored to the solid salt be- 
neath the surface. 

Then down into these holes water, from the 
many springs in the valley, was allowed to flow. 
Becoming saturated with salt, until the fluid 
was a heavy brine, it was pumped out and sent 
to a distant refinery. 

This method of obtaining salt and its 
products is in vogue in the vicinity of Syracuse, 
in New York state, where the author lived as 
a boy, and many of the incidents of this book 
are taken from some of my own actual ex- 
periences. 

That by way of digression. 

Uncle Tod was right in believing that the 
salt under the land he had acquired from Old 
Man Harrison was of great value. The skipper 
eventually recovered his former fortune which 
was lost in unfortunate ventures in the west 
with Slither. 

Some were inclined to criticise the skipper 
for the manner in which he got rid of Buck 


258 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


Tooth Slither by arranging for a pretended 
Indian uprising. But even the most carping 
critics were silenced when it developed, as it 
did, that Slither was even more of a rascal than 
Captain Tod had stated. The runaway partner 
was not heard of again in those parts, and the 
small bit of land to which he was rightfully 
entitled had no salt on it, so he really lost noth- 
ing. 

^‘If there had been salt under his property 
I’d have been the first to see that he got what- 
ever money there was in it, ’ ’ said Captain Tod. 
But there was no need of this. 

Rick suffered no ill effects from his rather 
perilous night journey, but it long remained a 
vivid memory with him, and perhaps with 
Ruddy also. 

Captain Tod’s injury rapidly healed in the 
clean, sweet outdoor air of Long River Camp, 
though it was some time before he could manage 
the Sallie, However he found plenty to do in 
directing the development of his salt mines, or 
wells, as they ought more properly to be called. 

As for Rick, Ruddy and Chot, when they had 
written home about the good news, they settled 
down to enjoying themselves in Long River 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


259 


Oamp. The Sallie was repaired and the boys 
were allowed to run the craft themselves, with 
Captain Tod as an invalid passenger. 

Dr. Scott, too, was often taken on trips up 
and down the river. Hokum Driscoll started 
his freak show, an.d it was most successful, even 
though he could not get a two-headed alligator. 
And he was frank enough to say he did not 
believe such an animal existed. 

But Esmerelda, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, 
the five-legged cow, the owl-headed rooster, to- 
gether with other freaks picked up about the 
country — a snake charmer, a strong man and 
other attractions — made a show which satisfied 
Mr. Driscoll. It seemed to take with the public, 
too, for considerable money was taken in. The 
boys visited the attractions (free of course) 
when the show came to the town where Rick had 
gone to get Dr. Scott, and the lads, as well as 
Captain Tod, were glad to renew their 
acquaintance with Mrs. Driscoll and little 
Mary. 

‘‘Look at Esmerelda!’^ cried Rick, as he saw 
the four legged hen, and her ordinary chickens 
in a little coop. 

“I really believes she knows me!” added 


260 


EICK AND EUDDY AFLOAT 


Chot, as the freak came close to the wire netting, 
and took some grains from Chot^s hand. 

“She’s a lot more friendly than the owl- 
headed rooster ! ’ ’ laughed Eick. ‘ ‘ Let ’s look at 
the porcupines!” 

There they were, larger than ever, and just 
as bristly. The boys did not try to pat them — 
it would not have been wise. 

“Where’s the triple clam?” asked Chot, as 
Mr. Driscoll was showing them his freaks. 

‘ ‘ Oh, that died on me, and I had to get rid of 
it. It wasn’t much of a ballyhoo, anyhow, but 
it gave me a start and brought me luck. Any 
time you boys are in the neighborhood of my 
show, don’t fail to stop in — the tent will always 
be open for you!” 

“Thanks,” murmured Chot and Eick, and 
Euddy, with a wag of his tail, to say good-bye 
to Pet whom he had rescued from the water, 
joined his master and chum. 

‘ ‘ That ’s right ! ’ ’ agreed Chot. ‘ ‘ Say, do you 
reckon we’ll ever again have as good and ex- 
citing a time as we had this summer?” 

“Oh, maybe!” answered Eick. 

WTiether they did or not I shall leave you to 
decide, when you read the next volume of this 


UNCLE TOD’S VICTORY 


261 


series, whicli will be called: ^‘Rick and Ruddy 
Out West/^ 

‘^Somebody’s coming,” remarked Chot a 
little later, as the silence of tbe darkness was 
broken, by a trampling in the underbrush. “I 
hope it isn’t Slither coming back.” 

It wasn’t. A gutteral, cheerful voice called: 

“You kick um hard — two bits!” 

“Johnnie Green!” cried the lads, joyously. 

“Sure — ^um me!” grunted the Indian, stalk- 
ing into the open. “Here basket for squaw 
sister,” he added, holding several beautifully 
woven ones out to Rick. The boy had seen the 
Indian women making baskets and had wished 
for one to give Mazie. Johnnie Green had 
remembered this, and had also brought some for 
Chot. 

“Oh, fine!” cried Rick, as he thanked the 
owner of the big stomach. “Mazie sure will 
like these!” 

“Um!” grunted Johnnie Green, as he 
waddled off. He paused a moment, turned 
back and asked. “You no kick um? Two 
bits!” 

‘ ‘No — ^we no kick um ! ’ ^ laughed Chot. ‘ ‘ Not 
to-night!” 


262 


RICK AND RUDDY AFLOAT 


And now, as it is time to ^Hurn in,’’ we will 
take leave of our boy friends, while Ruddy, with 
a sigh of contentment after an ample meal, 
stretches out and goes to sleep. 


\ 



I 

1 


1 






* 




» 1 






i 


/ 


4 


r. 


\ 










\ 


■ r. 




', ; 


^ 

. / 





. J 


V •I*; 




't: 



/r;,v'V 'r . . 



■:.v 

/• 



»*• ’ 


I ' ', 

} 


■' -J ■ 

■ v ' ' 

. ' «’'^* ■ '.'- - 


, * , » ' 
i 


i ' 


‘ .''.> • '<•'• /' /ri' 

/■t M'- 

.i'sv 


I ' *' I I , ’ 


' ’ j 




V -'.I'M''.,.- 

• , '■ I 


y 


'. r’ I 

■ ' '.I' 
; ■• ^ 


* >• 


•i' •)'' 


'} 


/ 


\ I 


I f 


y ( 




• * ■ • ', * 


■ ' .,-.v.":^ , - 



